The Belfast Giants have won the battle but the war is far from done.

Goals from Oliver Cooper and Ben Lake will give the Giants a 2-1 advantage heading to Coventry on Sunday for the second leg of this Play-off quarter-final, but it feels like a slender lead.

Mitch Cook was the Coventry goal scorer and you have to give Danny Stewart and his coaching team a lot of credit.

It was a game plan that stifled the Giants and was superbly executed by his players.

The game loosened up in the second period when the penalties were called but 5-on-5 the Blaze looked comfortable.

It will be all to play for at the Skydome on Sunday with a 17:30 BST face-off.

Why not come back and join me for what promises to be an exciting second leg.

Both sides with chances, but not great ones. Next goal is huge in this tie.

Goes without saying this is a huge 20 minutes coming up with the tactics for the second leg determined in how this game plays out.

The puck is dropped and off we go…the last period of hockey at the SSE Arena this season.

Certainly there was a lot more action in that period sparked by the penalty calls.

Both sides had back-to-back powerplays and scored once and the Giants are ahead thanks to that early Oliver Cooper goal.

Coventry are creating chances off the rush and Jackson Whistle has had to make a few good saves.

The Giants would like more than a one-goal advantage heading to Coventry on Sunday so a lot to play for in the final period.

Image source, Press Eye

Ben Lake gets credit for the goal which I think went in of his skate but the Giants are ahead with a powerplay marker and are straight back with the man advantage again.

Image source, Press Eye

A tripping call on Cameron Pound that incensed the Giants and the crowd and the Blaze take advantage.

Mitch Cook pokes a loose puck into the net to tie the game.

Blaze back on the powerplay

Took just 19 seconds for the Giants to open the scoring.

Greg Printz behind the goal to Oliver Cooper who didn’t make great contact but enough for the puck to loop into the net

Now will Coventry change their tactics?

Image source, Press Eye

Coventry have no need to change their tactics while the score remains 0-0.

Can the Giants up the tempo and create some better scoring opportunities?

The Blaze offensive flurries have been few and far between but the longer this goes without a goal then the edgier the Giants will become.

Off we go for the second period….

Image source, Press Eye

Interesting, but not exciting first period ends without a goal.

Credit to Coventry who have a game plan and they are executing it with great discipline. They’re playing the trap and sending in no fore-checkers when the Giants have the puck and the home side are finding it tough to breakdown.

So far the lack of physicality for a play-off game is strange.

That being said the Giants have had some chances, the best of which came in the closing seconds of the period when Travis Brown, from the edge of the blue paint was stopped by a really sharp save from Taran Kozun.

Hopefully better to come….

Coventry with a couple of attacking zone shifts that caused the Giants a few problems.

It’s not a typical play-off game. Very cagey.

6:27 remaining in the first period

All Giants in the opening minutes but surprised at the lack of intensity. It is the play-offs after all.

Coventry want to keep the game close and don’t have to change this approach as long as it’s 0-0

Belfast Giants coach Adam Keefe gives the start between the pipes to Jackson Whistle while not surprisingly Coventry Blaze coach Danny Stewart goes with Taran Kozun.

The puck is dropped and off we go….

It’s the Play-offs and the last chance to win a trophy this season for both Belfast and Coventry.

The Giants will be fully mindful of what happened last time the teams met in a Quarter-Final. Back in Challenge Cup action in December, the Blaze came back from four down to eliminate the Giants from that competition.

The Blaze were also mighty close to knocking the Giants out at this stage in 2022 with only a sudden-death shootout between the teams.

The three games between the teams in Belfast this season were all won by the Giants, who scored five each time.

It is the first time since 2017 that the Giants enter a playoff series having not already won a trophy earlier in the season.

Image source, BBC Sport