ICE HOCKEY: Bronze target for Belfast Giants after Steelers defeat

The Stena Line Belfast Giants fell 2-0 to the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday in the Playoff Semi-Final at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. With the Cardiff Devils defeating the Dundee Stars 4-2 in Saturday’s first Semi-Final, it will be the Steelers who advance to Sunday’s Grand Final.

It was the Sheffield Steelers who opened the scoring as Guillaume Desbiens fired his side into a 1-0 lead at 4:15 assisted by Andreas Valdix and Geoff Walker.

The middle period was filled with end-to-end action with both netminders, Murphy for Belfast and Mustukovs for Sheffield, keeping the score at 1-0. Murphy was particularly impressive during a two minute penalty kill mid-way through the period, flashing his glove with a last ditch save while lying on the ice to deny the Steelers.

The third and final 20 minutes of action followed the second with both sides cancelling each other out. That was, until, Levi Nelson scored into the empty Giants net at 59:35 with the Belfast side going in search of a late equaliser.

The Giants will now face the Dundee Stars in Sunday’s Elite League Bronze Medal game, face-off noon.