TWO late goals for the Belfast Giants has given them a chance to progress to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup despite losing the first leg 4-3 to the Cardiff Devils.
For much of last night's game at the Odyssey Arena they were outplayed and outmuscled by their opponents and looked dead and buried at 4-1 down but a frantic finish saw them pull within a goal ahead of the second leg in the Welsh capital next Wednesday night.
Giants netminder Carsen Chubak stood between the Devils and a first period lead as he made thirteen saves while his team mates managed just six and the visitors were quicker to loose pucks, were stronger when they retrieved it and hardly lost a one-on-one battle.
Only when they won a powerplay did the Giants gain any sort of foothold in the game but it was their goalie that kept the game scoreless.
It was a similar beginning to the middle session, Chubak again keeping the Giants alive but the Devils were also guilty of missing some clear cut chances.
However it looked like just a matter of time until they scored and so it proved when they forced a turnover that led to a hooking penalty on Evan Cheverie and with the man advantage at 31:26 Joey Haddad redirected the puck past Chubak.
Hope was restored 62 seconds later when Calvin Elfring's long pass sprung Colin Shields behind the Devils defence and the all-time leading Giants scorer went in one-on-one and tucked the puck under Devils goalie Ben Bowns.
The goal didn't change momentum as Cardiff seized control once again and retook the lead through Andrew Lord at 36:56 and added to it when Jake Morissette netted at 39 :04, both goals coming from physical battles won by the Devils as the home side struggled to match them.
When Morissette notched his second of the night on the powerplay at 46:01 it looked like the tie was getting away from the Giants but the visitors then took a couple of silly penalties and the Mike Kompon took advantage at 54:59.
Shields then hammered in one of the goals of the season at 56:20 to drag the GIants back from the dead and the same player almost tied the game late on, his shot finding the side netting.
It's back to league business on Saturday night for Steve Thornton's side when they host the Hull Stingrays.