Giants clinch third straight Elite League title!

Photo: William Cherry

Belfast Giants secured their third straight Viaplay Elite League title with a 6-1 victory over Guildford Flames live on Viaplay Xtra.

The vast majority of the sold-out crowd at the SSE Arena were treated to a lively start with both teams playing physical and at a high pace. Ben Lake opened the scoring for the Giants with 15:26 played as he neatly lifted the puck into Eamon McAdam's top scorner. Just shy of two minutes later, Jeff Baum shot partially through a screen and beat McAdam glove side to double the home side's lead to the delight of the home crowd.

When Peter Crinella took advantage of a miss-placed clearance to score on the powerplay at 28:59 the Flames were back t within one, however just 68 seconds later Henrik Neilson backhanded past McAdam to put the Giants back two ahead. The Swede then came up with a nasty between-the-legs finish to make it 4-1 at 33:45, followed by Matt McLeod adding the Giants' fifth with 2:01 left in the middle period.

Steve Owre rounded off the win with the only goal of the final period as the Giants cruised home to a five-goal win and lifted the league trophy!