Elite League: Belfast Giants end campaign with 7-6 win over Coventry Blaze

The Giants went into Saturday's match as Elite League champions

The Belfast Giants completed the Elite League regular season with a 7-6 win over the Coventry Blaze.

The result didn't matter to the league champions, who continued to rest players ahead of the play-offs that begin next weekend with the top line of JJ Piccinich, David Goodwin and Scott Conway all sitting this game out.

In the end, after 54 games, the Giants finished with an incredible 43-11 record and won the title by seven points over Sheffield.

They scored more goals than any other team - 224, 22 more than Sheffield - and conceded the fewest - 108, with Cardiff the next best on 128.

They'll await results from the final day of the season on Sunday to determine their play-off quarter-final opponent. It could be Coventry, Dundee, Guildford or Glasgow, but the Giants likely won't mind who they face in the two-legged tie with the winners advancing to the Final Four in Nottingham.

Early goals for the Blaze from Conner Chaulk and Janne Kivilahti put the visitors 2-0 ahead before the Giants found their stride.

Cam Knight's low shot from the top of the right circle beat Coventry netminder CJ Motte before defenceman Sam Ruopp picked the puck up on the left wing boards, cut inside to the slot and his backhand effort also crept beyond Motte to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of the first period.

Jordan Boucher went top shelf from a tight angle early in the second period to give the Giants the lead in the game for the first time.

A Blaze turnover led to Darcy Murphy tucking the Giants' fourth goal through the pads of Motte from close range.

The floodgates were open and the Giants were showing no mercy. Mark Cooper scored the fifth before Belfast's own Carter Hamill assisted on Tyler Soy's blast that made it 6-2. It was the first point as a Giant for Hamill and ended the night for Motte as he was replaced by Jordan Hedley.

However, Coventry knew a win would lessen the chance they'd have to return to Belfast for the play-offs so they weren't about to give in.

A spate of penalties allowed Nathan Halbert to score a four-on-three powerplay goal for the visitors and it was quickly followed by a Ross Venus strike to close the gap with 20 minutes to play.

Coventry crept within a goal when Dillon Eichstadt scored early in the final period and minutes later the game was tied at 6-6 when Kivilahti scored his second of the night.

Lewis Hook's one-timer with 2:50 to go settled the game and gave the Giants fans another reason to celebrate, and it carries the winning momentum onto the play-offs where a Grand Slam is the target.