Giants come from behind to beat Clan

Belfast Giants came from a goal behind to beat Glasgow Clan 3-1 in front of a 6,358-strong crowd at the SSE Arena.

The sides split 20 shots each in the opening period, but neither team could find the breakthrough. A late shot on the buzzer drew a good save from Jackson Whistle as the teams played out the first 20 minutes without a goal.

After a scoreless opening, there were three goals in period two. Glasgow struck just 43 seconds into the middle frame when Tristin Langan hammered a one-timer off a Brayden Burke pass to open the scoring, while Sami Aittokallio denied Markus Eriksson on a breakaway four minutes later.

Following sustained Giants pressure, Scott Conway collected a bouncing puck and whipped it high over Aittokallio to tie the game at 28:35.

With five minutes left in the period, Eriksson finished from Gabe Bast’s pass to put the Giants ahead.

Lucas Brine replaced Aittokallio in the Clan net for the third period. Langan broke clear with under 10 minutes remaining but shot straight into Whistle’s chest as Clan tried to level. They could not find a tying goal and could only watch as David Goodwin slotted into the empty net from distance with 1:16 to play, sealing the Giants’ victory.

Photo: William Cherry