Three periods, three goals and now the Belfast Giants are three points clear at the top of their group as they moved a step closer to a place in the Semi-Finals of the Challenge Cup.
They had to battle all the way to victory though, squeezing out a 3-0 win over Glasgow Clan that wasn’t anywhere near as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
Indeed, it was only when JJ Piccinich scored an empty-net goal with just 76 seconds left on the clock that the points were secured against a team that for long periods deployed the perfect tactics on the road.
Pierre-Olivier Morin had given the Giants a second-period lead and the Belfast men put a gloss on the result with an even later third goal.
The win moves the Giants three points clear of Glasgow in the group standings, with a game fewer played and four more matches to go.
The night started with a round of applause to mark a year since the passing of Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson, whose death as the result of an on-ice injury in a game against the Sheffield Steelers stunned the ice hockey world.
There wasn’t much cause for applause in the early part of the game though.
The Giants did make the early running against a Clan team that looked content to soak up pressure, wait for their chance and hope to strike on breakaways.
Kyle Osterberg went close with an early chance and as the Giants dominated almost the entire first period, Jeff Baum, Elijiah Barriga and Gabe Bast all failed to take opportunities as Lucas Brine in the Clan goal dealt comfortably with anything that was thrown at him.
Clan’s counter-attacking plan almost paid dividends early in the second period when Liam Finlay broke through one-on-one only to be denied by Tom McCollum.
Morin then showed a sign of what was to come with a shot that clipped the pipework before he finally made the breakthrough on a powerplay with only 40 seconds of the second period to go.
It was Morin’s quick reactions that brought about the goal.
Jordan Kawaguchi sent the puck right across the ice from high on the left, Grant Mismash hit a superb first-time shot that Brine padded away and Morin pounced to fire the loose puck into the net.
The Giants lived on the edge during a spell of around eight minutes when they gave up three powerplays and coach Adam Keefe’s frustrations were clear to see.
Knowing that they had to act at some stage, Glasgow called their timeout to plan for pulling Brine and went for it with a minute and a half left on the clock.
Within a matter of seconds though Piccinich gleefully fired into the empty net and after waiting so long for the insurance goal it took just 14 seconds for another to arrive when Mark Cooper set up Morin to strike the third right on the 59-minute mark.