Belfast Giants 5 Guildford Flames 4

Darcy Murphy’s third period goal proved to be the winner as Belfast Giants moved into fourth place in the Elite League table, edging a nine-goal thriller over Guildford Flames.

A feast of goals in the opening period set the tone for an entertaining night ahead, with Brendan Connolly getting Belfast’s first after a minute and a half.

He added a second a couple of minutes to give Belfast a two-goal cushion as Guildford had barely settled into the game.

The Flames got one back as Carl Ackered scored on the powerplay to cut the deficit by half and had levelled things up shortly after with a goal from Jesse Craige.

Adam Keefe’s men started to reassert themselves and edged themselves ahead again as John Kurtz scored shorthanded.

Then he picked up his second of the night to put the Giants 4-2 ahead as the goals flew in during an entertaining first session.

The Flames pulled another back early in the second with a short-handed marker for themselves as Mikael Lidhammar clawed the gap back to one.

Mark Garside’s penalty for kneeing early in the third stanza opened up a powerplay opportunity for Guildford, which they took as John Dunbar made it four apiece.

The game was on a knife edge until Murphy’s goal around the midway point of the final period ensured the points were staying in Northern Ireland.