- Belfast celebrate first and last win of the Regular Season
- Alexis Gravel put on a show for the home fans stopping 30 of 31 shots
- Brynäs have been reduced to four total goals throughout their last three games
The Belfast Giants bow out of this year's Champions Hockey League on a high note as they survive to see their first win, a 2-1 victory over Swedish opponents Brynäs IF. Alexis Gravel's performance between the pipes was nothing short of spectacular as he managed to turn aside 30 of 31 shots to help his club clinch the win.
Despite being outplayed and outmanoeuvred, it was Belfast securing the first goal when Ryan Smith potted his third of the tournament on a deflection in front at 18:13. Marcus Eriksson made a seeing-eye pass to Smith, who parked himself at the top of the blue paint where he was easily able to flick it by Collin Delia.
Not long into the second, however, Brynäs were awarded the game's first powerplay and they made use of it when leading scorer Lucas Pettersson stepped into his shot and lasered it from just outside the near circle past the glove of Alexis Gravel to tie things at 1-1.
Puck dropped in the third period, where Belfast were able to thumb the scales in their favour when Nicolas Guay made it 2-1. J.J. Piccinich found Guay behind the defence and all alone as the forward received the pass and went forehand, backhand and slid it into a wide-open net.
Still down a goal, the visitors pulled their netminder in the dying minutes and, at one point, enjoyed a 6-on-4 powerplay opportunity. But to the home fans' delight, Belfast were able to stave off the Swedes' pressure and exit the competition with a win in dramatic fashion.