Giants Crowned EIHL Champions
Belfast beat Nottingham in Overtime to take the EIHL Title
The Belfast Giants would head into Nottingham with a chance to clinch the EIHL title. Any sort of win would see them crowned Champions.
The Panthers would be the team who opened the scoring, however. A nice play between Kontos, Doherty and Fossier would see an easy back-door, tap-in, be finished off by the Nottingham #18 at 5:29.
Despite the Giants going shorthanded due to the Boudrais slashing call, Captain Mark Cooper would tie the game. A solo run would see Cooper get round the Panthers’ defenders and put it between the arms of Huhtamaa and at 13:47 the game would be tied.
Panthers would regain the lead five minutes into the second session. It would be the same forward line as the first Panthers goal. Matt Spencer would find Fossier, who's tip would fall kindly for Doherty who would finish it off nicely into the top corner at 25.22.
And three minutes later the hosts would double their lead. A feed from Kontos would find Zech in all alone and despite being brought down, he would slide it under Whistle and at 28:21, it was 3-1 Nottingham.
Before the end of the second period, the Giants would find a way to half the deficit. Mike Lee, the trailing man on the play, was found nicely by David Goodwin and a perfect shot would beat Huhtamaa and the end of the second would see the Giants needing two goals to get the win they needed.
It would take just over seven minutes to find a goal in the third and it would be a game tying goal. A broken play behind the net would see the puck fall on the stick of Scott Conway who would fire it low, into the corner and the Giants were itching closer to the title.
The end of regulation time would the two teams be tied at three goals to three but an out of town scoreboard result would come in and a Sheffield loss in Coventry would mean a point was more than enough to secure the Giants the EIHL Title. But overtime to still play…
And the Giants would find the extra point as Mike Lee would score his second overtime, game-winning goal, in as many nights - on the breakaway. The perfect end to the perfect night for the Belfast Giants - 2024/25 Elite League Champions.
