Former Giants skipper Jeff Hoad led London Knights to a 5-2 victory when he returned to the Odyssey Arena on Friday evening.

Hoad moved to London during the summer after captaining the Giants to the Superleague title last season.

But he scored a vital goal as Dave Whistle's side lost their unbeaten Superleague home streak which had stretched to 19 games.

It was the Giants third successive defeat in the defence of their title following defeats against the Scottish Eagles and Sheffield last weekend.

Whistle, though will be unhappy in the manner of defeat as they leaked four very soft goals to the visitors.

The Knights stormed ahead on 3:57 with Hoad doing the spadework and Denis Maxwell retrieving the puck to flick a shot passed goal-minder Ryan Bach.

The Giants equalised near the end of the first period when Shane Johnston squeezed a shot between the goal-minder's pads.

Kim Ahlroos put the Knights back on top on a powerpaly and then they went two goals clear on 24-23 with Moe Mansi finding the target.

Although the Giants pulled a goal back from the hard-working Paxton Schulte, the Knights took the points when Hoad swept home the fourth goal in the final period.