Giants edge out Panthers 4-3 in playoff first leg
By Alex Keery, Sports Reporter
The Belfast Giants have a slight advantage in their playoff quarter final with the Nottingham Panthers after winning the first leg 4-3 at the SSE Arena.
The opening goal was scored by Darcy Murphy for the Giants at 9:11. He skated clear to finish well after collecting a horribly misplaced pass by the Panthers’ Tim Billingsley.
David Rutherford made it 2-0 to the Giants at 10:22, scoring on the powerplay having been assisted by captain Blair Riley and opening scorer Murphy.
The Giants continued to make the most of their powerplay dominance as Colin Shields found the net from near the blueline at 13:16 to open a 3 goal lead.
The visitors reduced the deficit with the last action of the opening period when David Clarke scored at 19:13.
38 seconds into the second period the Panthers scored again as Mark Derlago tipped in to make it 3-2, assisted by Luke Pitner.
The Giants pushed ahead at 32:34 as John Kurtz scored their fourth after his shot appeared to deflect off a couple of Panthers defencemen.
However, in the final period the gap was reduced back to a single goal at 48:15 when Clarke scored for the Panthers to make it 4-3 and set up a tense finish.
The two sides meet in the return leg in Nottingham on Sunday.