Manchester struck first after a cautious start, as interim captain Kyle Locke set up Gary Haden to finish past Jackson Whistle at 6.15. The Storm doubled their lead on the power play late in the period – Loren Ulett’s one-timer was stopped, but Joe Nardi reacted quickest by sneaking in the rebound at 16:03.
Belfast had chances early in the second period but were unable to convert, and instead Manchester made it 3-0. Nick Welsh pulled the puck back for Dennis Busby, who beat Whistle with an excellent finish at 24:31. The goal forced a timeout for the Giants, followed moments later by Alexis Gravel hitting the net. Despite a strong push, Belfast went into the second break still three goals behind.
Jake Gaudet later admitted that the crowd knew exactly what was needed: “The guys there knew things weren’t going our way and we came out in the third and changed the momentum.” Just 61 seconds into the period, the Giants got the spark they needed for a power play. “We saw the power play as an opportunity to turn the tide our way,” Gaudet explained – and Jordan Kawaguchi delivered, firing home to get Belfast on the board after 61 seconds.
Less than five minutes later, the comeback was in full swing. Scott Conway scored at 45:02, and just 59 seconds later Nicholas Guay tied the game to bring the SSE Arena to life. “There wasn’t much good in the first two periods,” Gaudet said, “but we created chances without scoring goals.”
With the momentum completely in their favor, the Giants pressed on. JJ Piccinich cut inside and finished David Goodwin’s pass to put Belfast ahead with 8:32 to go. Gaudet made it 5-3 just 90 seconds later, which meant a huge swing in the match. Patrick Grasso sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minutes.
Gaudet praised the crowd for their role in the comeback: “I think there was a lot of energy in the building tonight and with the fans after they finally got them in there in the third period.”
Photo: William Kers
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