Cardiff and Belfast fought out an Elite League thriller in the Land of the Giants.

The top two teams in Britain, leaders Devils and second-placed Giants, went toe-to-toe in front of 4,700-plus spectators at the SSE Arena.

Belfast just edged it 4-3 after sudden death overtime plus penalties and Devils head coach Andrew Lord told Belfast’s A View from the Bridge: “That game is a testament to how much Elite League ice hockey improved over the last few years.

“The tempo of play was fast and ferocious. There is so much skill on both teams.

“We were disappointed to lose the shootout, but we played hard, had real quality minutes and I was happy with our start.

“Our aim now is to come back strong tomorrow in the next game against Belfast.”

Devils scored three powerplay goals and are number one on Elite League on PP stats.

Man of the match Andrew Hotham was quarterback for their powerplay and Lord said: “We are fortunate to have guys like him and Joey Martin as part of our hockey organisation.

“When they move it right and work the process you really see their skill take over. They were really big goals.

“It was disappointing to lose, but we can’t get too high or too low min this league. We have to learn from our mistakes and come back stronger on Saturday.”