Augsburger Panther are one step closer to qualifying thanks to a 3-1 home victory against the Belfast Giants. With 8 points from 4 games they are joint top of Group C.

After a very cautious first few minutes of the first period, it was Augsburg who got the first powerplay of the match after a high-sticking penalty for Jordan Smotherman eight minutes into the game. Augsburg were unable to score and offered Belfast two powerplays after two fouls of their own. Both sides were neck and neck and after 20 minutes of the game up, the score still sat at 0-0.

Just one minute after both teams stepped back out onto the ice for the second period, Scott Valentine’s high-sticking foul was deemed as two + two worthy, but the Giants were unable to break the deadlock in their long powerplay. Two minutes later, Augsburg’s Matthew Fraser found the back of the net and opened the scoring on the night. Augsburg enjoyed two powerplays before the end of the period, but they left for the locker rooms with just the one goal advantage.

The third period was very intense and physical. In the opening minutes, Belfast’s Ben Lake was sent to the bench for slashing and Ciaran Long followed him eight minutes later for tripping. But Belfast were able to keep the score in reachable distance and successfully kill both powerplays. Their hard-fought equaliser finally came 11 minutes into the third period, when Brian Ward was able to divert the puck mid-air into the back of the net and tie the game at 1-1. But just one minute later, Augsburg’s Henry Haase gained back the lead with a powerful shot that sailed into the top-left corner of Shane Owen’s net. The Giants upped the pressure in the final minutes of the game, and called their goalkeeper to the bench to get an extra skater onto the ice, but Augsburg’s Adam Payerl gained control of the puck and glided it into the back of the empty net to finalise the score at 3-1 for Augsburg.