Champions again and in some style, the Belfast Giants completed the first part of what could be a special season by romping to Challenge Cup success at the SSE Arena by mercilessly putting the Cardiff Devils to the sword.
Adam Keefe’s side were favourites coming into the game having won all five prior meetings between the two sides this season, but nobody expected this as the Giants hit their visitors with a three-goal blitz in the space of three minutes and 43 seconds across the first intermission to ease to their first trophy of the season.
Already a goal to the good after Ciaran Long’s opener — which, arguably, came against the run of play — the Giants took full control of the tie when J.J. Piccinich struck 58 seconds before the first intermission and then, in the first 2:45 of the second period, Jordan Kawaguchi and Mark Cooper took the game out of reach of the Devils.
Not that the Giants overly needed many goals to get the job done anyway as Jackson Whistle produced a masterclass in nets at their own end, turning away all 37 shots he faced to keep his second consecutive shut-out against the Devils to help them lift the trophy, as did a 5-for-5 night on the penalty kill.
At the other end, they got a scoring performance from their forwards that typifies the Giants’ success this campaign as three of the four lines contributed, including the fourth, as the depth of scoring potential on this roster came to bear fruit in a championship game for the first time this season.
It continues a simply remarkable run in the Challenge Cup for the Giants under Keefe, this the fifth time they have lifted the trophy in the head coach’s seven seasons in charge. While it is undeniable that the format of the competition does favour his side slightly, to be that consistent time and time again is nothing short of incredible.
And, perhaps even more importantly, it keeps the possibility of a second grand slam in three years alive. Three points clear at the top of the Elite League standings with nine games remaining, with a game in hand to boot, the newly crowned Cup champions are very much in the driving seat to make it at least a double, and there remains every possibility that the Play-Offs could follow for another sensational season.
But for now they will revel in adding a ninth trophy in the Keefe era after a performance that fully deserved it, even if they did have to absorb a lot of early pressure from the Devils.
But once the Giants got their scoring boots on, it was game over. Long kicked things off when he turned his hand to baseball for a brief moment, the centre the man on the spot to bat the rebound off Elijiah Barriga’s deflected effort 6:25 in for what would actually be the game-winner and, although it perhaps wasn’t the most deserving lead the Giants have ever had, they wouldn’t surrender it.
If Long’s goal was well-timed to snap Cardiff’s momentum, Piccinich’s goal was just as well-timed in coming inside the final minute of the opening frame, the winger doing the hard work to win the puck battle down the boards and playing the one-two on the rush with Scott Conway and flicking it in.
But the real hammer blow came early in the second period as Kawaguchi and Cooper called game in emphatic fashion and rendered the rest of the game as essentially a glorified training session.
Kawaguchi kicked things off just 89 seconds after the restart, rocketing in a one-timer from the slot for the third, and then Cooper further added on with a thunderbolt of his own from the right face-off dot that crashed in off the post just 2:45 into the second frame.
The Devils tried upping the physicality to spark something, Sam Duggan clashing with Long in front of the benches, but it was already in vain. Indeed, if anyone was going to add on it would be the Giants as Josh Roach and Ben Lake both hit the post late in the second but the damage was already well and truly done.
One down. Two to go.