London Knights 4-6 Belfast Giants

Defending champions Belfast Giants moved to within one point of Superleague leaders Sheffield Steelers with victory at the Docklands Arena on Sunday.

A victory over London at the Odyssey on Tuesday evening will see the Giants leapfrog over Steelers.

But it was four second-period goals proved crucial to keeping alive Belfast's hopes of becoming the first team in the Superleague to win back-to-back titles.

Kory Karlander and captain Paul Kruse twice gave Belfast the lead only for Dennis Maxwell and ex-Giant Jeff Hoad to haul London, playing their final home game of the regular season, level.

Unanswered goals from Dave Matsos, Colin Ward and Rod Stevens (powerplay) gave Belfast some breathing space.

Three-goal cushion

However, Mark Kolesar clawed one back for London on the powerplay with one second of the middle session remaining.

The Giants restored their three-goal cushion just 58 seconds after the restart through Doug MacDonald with Steve Aronson pulling another back for the hosts.

A point now separates Sheffield and Belfast who both having three games left while Nottingham Panthers are a further point behind.