Belfast Giants’ lead at the top of the table was cut to six points as Cardiff Devils left SSE Arena with a 5-2 win in part one of their double-header weekend.
Cardiff took the lead inside the opening two minutes through Ryan Barrow. Brett Ferguson carried the puck into the Giants’ defensive zone and slid it across the crease for Barrow to tap home at 01:25.
The Giants levelled the game with one minute remaining in the period through Scott Conway. Karl Boudrais’ shot was blocked by a defender, but the puck fell perfectly for Conway, who finished from the slot past Ben Bowns at 19:00.
Cardiff regained the lead late in the second period when Jimmy Oligny’s shot was tipped in by Barrow, which was enough to beat Jake Kupsky at 35:27.
The Giants responded again with just 39 seconds left in the period when Ryan Smith won the puck back, drove toward goal and fired into the roof of the net at 39:21.
Cole Sanford put Devils back ahead 2:56 into the third when he broke through on Kupsky. The goal came moments after Brandon Whistle had narrowly missed a half-open net at the other end, although Bowns may have got a piece of the shot.
Sanford then struck again on the powerplay with 7:45 remaining to give Devils a two-goal cushion.
Carsen Twarynski saw a shot come back off the post with 2:57 to play, while Bowns was able to cover a loose puck scrambling around in his crease. Mike Lee then hit the crossbar with just over two minutes remaining as Giants pressed during a powerplay.
Josh MacDonald sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 44 seconds remaining.
The defeat was Belfast’s first home regulation loss in league play this season.
Photo: William Cherry
