Champions Hockey league: Belfast Giants exit after 4-2 defeat by Skellefteå AIK

Belfast Giants looked on course for a famous win in the Champions Hockey League before the Swedish side fought back to earn a 4-2 victory at the SSE Arena

Belfast Giants put in a tremendous effort against the five-time Swedish champions Skellefteå AIK but three third-period goals saw the visitors win 4-2 in the Champions Hockey League.

The result ended the slim knockout qualification hopes for the Giants ahead of next week's return fixture.

Goals from Steve Owre and Sam Ruopp put the Giants ahead after the second period before the Swedes fought back.

"The effort was great from start to finish," said Giants coach Adam Keefe.

"I thought we fatigued a little bit in the second period and into the third, but we found our wind again and then against the run of play they get one.

"The margins at this level are small and ultimately, we didn't get the job done."

Giants denied early on

His side have never looked over matched in the competition against some of Europe's top clubs and they should have taken an early lead but were denied by an incredible double save from the Swedish team's netminder Gustaf Lindvall who first blocked David Goodwin's shot before then producing an astonishing stop from Mark Cooper on the rebound.

David Gilbert also hit the post for the Giants as they dominated the opening exchanges but when they got into penalty trouble, they couldn't stop the visitors from taking the lead.

The calls on Cooper and Mark Garside would probably not have been penalties in the Elite League but in Europe where the emphasis is on skill and not on the physical side of the game, they get penalised.

Despite killing a short 5-on-3 powerplay for Skellefteå they couldn't stop Max Lindholm scoring on a well set up one-timer.

The start to the second period for the Giants however was explosive.

They began on the penalty kill but it took just 16 seconds for Conway to force a turnover and for Owre to fire a one-timer into the top corner to tie the game at 1-1.

Belfast Giants took on Skelleftea AIK at the SSE Arena and the sides will meet again in Sweden next week

Two minutes later Ruopp joined the rush as he took Tyler Soy's pass before blasting the Giants into a 2-1 lead.

They held but could never increase the lead going into the final period as chances for both sides came and went.

Skellefteå missed a penalty shot but just when it looked like the Giants were absorbing the pressure, Filip Sandberg's snapshot tied the game.

The winning goal with just under three minutes remaining wasn't a thing of beauty as Andreas Wingerli poked the puck past Peyton Jones after a scramble in front of the Giants crease and the same player then added the empty netter.

The Giants will now turn their attention to the start of their Elite League title defence in Dundee on Saturday night.

Keefe added: "We proved we can play against the team currently leading the Swedish League and we can take that confidence forward now as we begin the defence of the league title, but Dundee will come at us just as hard, and we have to be prepared."