Elite League: Belfast Giants edge Cardiff Devils in thriller to extend winning run to 11

It was billed as the game of the season so far and it did not disappoint as the Belfast Giants edged the Cardiff Devils 1-0 in a thriller at the SSE Arena.

Tyler Soy's second period goal was enough to move the Giants to within three points of the Devils' Elite League lead, with five games in hand.

There was only the one goal but that only begins to tell the story as two of the league's best sides in battled to the end and, incredibly, the hockey equivalent of VAR had the final say as the Giants made it 11 wins in a row.

The Giants iced without injured captain David Goodwin and, as expected, the first period was a tight affair with both sides finding it hard to create clear-cut scoring chances and the two netminders comfortably handling the shots that got through on net.

The second period erupted just after the halfway mark with a brawl in front of the Devils net. Everyone, apart from the goalies, was involved with the Giants coming out of it with a powerplay. Slater Doggett hit the crossbar with the man advantage as the Giants began to dominate the game and their persistence was rewarded with 65 seconds remaining in the period.

After another tough forechecking shift, Jordan Boucher found Soy who took his time and buried the puck past Mac Carruth.

The final 20 minutes began at a frantic pace as Beskorowany led the penalty-killing efforts and his team-mates then took over, forcing Carruth into a number of big saves.

It was end-to-end but the lack of a second goal for the Giants meant it was going to be a tense finish made even more so by a tripping penalty taken by JJ Piccinich which left his team-mates the final two minutes to kill two men down as Cardiff pulled Carruth for the extra skater.

The visitors thought they made it count with 87 seconds left on the game when Beskorowany was finally beaten by Matt Register's shot but, after a lengthy video review, the officials ruled it out for goaltender interference as a Devils player's skate hit the stick of the Giants netminder.

In a frenetic conclusion Beskorowany made the final three of his 26-save shutout and Piccinich was even able to leave the penalty box and make the final interception that sealed a precious two points and extended the Giants' winning streak to 11 league games.