Colin Shields scored one goal on Saturday night

The Belfast Giants moved level on points with Nottingham at the top of the Elite League table by beating the Panthers 4-0 away on Saturday night.

Jeff Szwez (2), Brandon Benedict and Colin Shields were the Giants scorers.

Belfast also beat Nottingham on Friday night, enjoying a 6-3 success at the Odyssey Arena, and have three games in hand of their title rivals.

Craig Peacock (two), Shields (two), player-coach Thornton and Michael Jacobsen hit the Giants goals.

Shields and Peacock struck early on to put the Giants 2-0 ahead before Mario Larocque pulled a goal back for the league leaders.

The home side then had Jeff Szwez thrown out of the game for cross-checking and Jade Galbraith levelled in the resultant powerplay before Sean McAslan nudged the Panthers ahead.

However, Thornton's first goal of the season and Jacobsen's powerplay effort restored the Giants' lead by the end of the second period.

Peacock extended Belfast's advantage with another powerplay effort late on and Shields still had time to complete the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

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