By Maria McCann
The Belfast Giants have failed to progress to the Elite League Grand Final.
The team fell 2 nil to the Sheffield Steelers at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham yesterday.
It was the Sheffield Steelers who opened the scoring as Guillaume Desbiens fired his side into a 1-0 lead at 4:15 assisted by Andreas Valdix and Geoff Walker.
The middle period was filled with end-to-end action with both netminders, Murphy for Belfast and Mustukovs for Sheffield, keeping the score at 1-0.
Murphy was particularly impressive during a two minute penalty kill mid-way through the period, flashing his glove with a last ditch save while lying on the ice to deny the Steelers.
@BelfastGiants Not the result we wanted, but hold your heads high lads. You all gave it a 100%. Couldn't ask for more. #weareallgiants
— John McConnell (@JJM71) April 8, 2017
The third and final 20 minutes of action followed the second with both sides cancelling each other out. That was, until, Levi Nelson scored into the empty Giants net at 59:35 with the Belfast side going in search of a late equaliser.
The Giants will now face the Dundee Stars in Sunday's Elite League Bronze Medal game, face-off 12pm.
We face @BelfastGiants in the 3/4 Place Playoff today🏒 FO 12:00! #POFW17 #COYS pic.twitter.com/DI2wjyk6BV
— Dundee Stars (@DundeeStars) April 9, 2017
Man of the match Derrick Walser says they'll have to look ahead and focus on next season.
"It just wasn't meant to be, we had opportunities, they had opportunities.
"But for the fans it should have been a hell of a game to watch as it was exciting being part of it.
"I think a lot of the guys will remember this game and want to come back and fix it next year".