Manchester Storm 5 - 6 Belfast Giants

Written by: Charley Longden

Manchester Storm scored four times in the third period to force overtime against league leaders Belfast Giants, however the Giants came out on top in a 6-5 thriller.

Three minutes into the third period, Brady doubled his tally for the day and pulled one back for the home side. The league leaders were starting to sweat when they saw Critchlow score one to make it 5-3, and more so when Brady completed his hat-trick with a powerplay goal. With over ten minutes still to play, the Storm were looking increasingly likely to complete an astonishing comeback, so Giants coach Adam Keefe called a timeout to try and regroup his stunned side. The timeout was unsuccessful however, as Springer drove the puck into the goal to make it 5-5, the game was going to sudden death overtime.

The magic for the Storm ran out in overtime however, as just two minutes in, Cooper scored, and sealed the victory for the league leaders. Cooper saved his side from capitulation with the winning strike, a goal that maintains the Giants' four-point lead at the top of the table. The Giants still have a long way to go in the seasons title race, needing 7 wins out of a possible 9 to claim the title. The league leaders still have to play 2nd place Sheffield Steelers three times before the season closes.

Manchester Storm were unlucky not to be victorious on the night, having 52 shots to the Giants' 44. The Giants' shot efficiency was slightly superior with 21.43% to the Storms' 16.13%, a fine margin that perhaps cost the Storm the points. The Storm also had 8 power plays, which was 6 more than their opponents on the night.

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