Giants Euro campaign ends against Skellefteå AIK

It was a game which was fast pace from the first drop of the puck to the final buzzer.

Belfast were unlucky to find themselves a goal down at the end of the first period after a strong start.

A hooking minor against Mark Garside led to Pär Lindholm putting the puck past Peyton Jones at 16.17.

The Giants began the second period on the penalty kill as Lake was called for hooking, but just 16 seconds into the middle frame they tied it up as Steve Owre turned over the puck in the offensive zone and fired home from the right circle for the shorthanded.

Two minutes later the sides were tied when Sam Ruopp joined the rush and snapped the finish past Lindvall for the lead at 22.20.

Having battled hard in the final period the visitors' equaliser came at 47.50 when the puck was slipped under Jones' pads by Filip Sandberg.

The Giants played out another penalty kill as Gabe bast was sent to the box for interference to keep their hopes alive, but Andreas Wingerli would deliver the killer blow with just 2.57 left on the clock.

Needing two goals to keep their CHL dream alive, coach Adam Keefe was pulled Jones for the extra skater, but Wingerli slotted home an empty net goal with 1.20 remaining to end the Giants' Euro dream.

Speaking after the game Giants' forward Ben Lake said he believed that his side could be proud of what they had achieved in this campaign.

“It was a tough battle for sure,” said Lake, “We knew that they were going to be a very high skilled team and that would skate well ahead of the game.

“It was our goal to kind of to slow them down a bit by finishing hits and also slowing them down in the neutral zone. We were physical tonight and that was key in slowing them down.

“I think that we did that for the most part. Obviously they hemmed us in on a few shifts which is only to be expected from a team of Skellefteå's calibre.

“But I think we defended quite well against their attacks but maybe going into the third period we kind of ran out of gas and they capitalised on that.”

Lake agrees that right from the first drop of the puck the intensity of the game was top notch with both teams wanting thewin.

He said: “We knew what to expect from a team from the SHL. Maybe sometimes when top teams like that across Europe come into our building, they may not give us the respect that we are due.

“It is something that we saw when the Giants competed in the CHL two years ago and then again this season. We can jump on teams quickly from the start and make life difficult.

Lake concluded: “We had that again tonight against Skellefteå, we have plenty of good opportunities in the opening five minutes of the game and had we buried a couple of those it would have been a different game.”