Big confidence boosting win for the Belfast Giants after their stuttering performances of late.

They move a point ahead of Sheffield and two ahead of Nottingham and will play their game in hand on Wednesday night against Fife.

With another game against Fife, Manchester and Nottingham to come at home, the Giants know they are four wins away from clinching the Elite League title before what could be a final day showdown in Nottingham.

End-to-end they go, the final period whizzing by with hardly a whistle to speak off.

Giants seeing the game out comfortably with 4:30 remaining

A Giants win puts them back at the top of the standings with five games left.

That’s how big a twenty minutes this is coming up….

Four goals in the span of 3:03 highlighted an entertaining second period and with three of them going the Giants way, the home fans are happy.

It was end-to-end and very open which doesn’t always suit the Giants but they have a three-goal lead to protect and two big points to win in the final period.

The goals are flowing in.

Mark Cooper sets up Ben Lake to score almost immediately after Tedesco’s effort.

McCollum won’t feel so bad….

Tom McCollum will want that one back as he is beaten by Daniel Tedesco from long range with no screen.

PO Morin knocks in a rebound to increase the Giants lead to three.

Jeff Baum makes it 3-1 as he fires the puck through a Ciaran Long screen and into the bottom corner.

A lot of conversation with the officials with the Flames claiming goaltender interference by Long but the refs don’t look at the video and the goal stands.

Tom McCollum makes two huge saves to help kill the penalty and then Mark Cooper takes the puck to the net and fires a shot off Jake Lupsky and into the net

Two Giants collide behind their own goal line and the puck breaks for Daniel Tedesco who finds Daniel Catenacci alone in the slot who buries it.

Too open a game this for the Giants likeing.

And now the home side is on the penalty kill

For whatever reason the Giants side that turned up and dominated the Challenge Cup Final against Cardiff has gone missing in the league, certainly in terms of scoring goals.

One is unlikely to be enough in this game….

We’re back underway in the second period

After the goal the Giants controlled the last 8 minutes of the period but the speed that Guildford possesses up front has been causing the Giants a few problems.

Long way to go in this one…

Simple play but patience from Jordan Kawaguchi who hold the puck to create the shooting lane and they beats Jake Kupsky on the short side.

And just like that the Giants are back on the powerplay.

8:04 to go in the period

Flames with more pressure and chances so far in the game but the Giants now have their first powerplay.

Giants successfully kill first powerplay chance for the Flames.

The starting netminders are Tom McCollum for the Giants who continues in place of the injured Jackson Whistle and Jake Kupsky for the Flames.

The puck is dropped on a hugely important game for the Belfast Giants.

Welcome to the SSE Arena in Belfast where there are now three weekends left in the race for the Elite League title.

The indifferent recent form of the Belfast Giants has thrown the title chase wide open and going into this afternoon’s game against the Guildford Flames the home side are now a point behind the Sheffield Steelers as they went back into first place with a win over Manchester last night.

The Giants were joined by Nottingham in second place BUT the Giants have two games in hand on their title rivals with six games left and the next five at home.

If the Giants can muster a five game winning streak they will be crowned champions no matter what.

However expect a few twists and turns before then.

Image source, BBC Sport