Schulte scores Giants winner

Belfast Giants 3-2 Cardiff Devils

Paxton Schulte scored in the final period for the Giants

Paxton Schulte scored the winning goal as the Belfast Giants beat Cardiff to stretch their lead at the top of the Elite League to six points.

Schulte led a two-on-one on the Cardiff goal four minutes from the end of Sunday's game to shoot the decisive score past Devils goal-tender Eoin McInerney.

Belfast's other two scores came from Sean Berens.

He opened the scoring in the ninth minute but less than two minutes later Cardiff's Ivan Matulik stretched the send the puck past Gaints goal-tender Colin Ryder.

Jason Ruff was then dismissed from the game for getting involved in a clash between Berens and Cardiff's Jonathan Phillips.

The Giants regained the lead midway through the second period when Colin Ward set up Berens for his second goal.

Matulik got his second goal for Cardiff on 32.17 but then Schulte emerged as the hero for Belfast with his late winner.

The 3-2 win for Belfast was a repeat of the scoreline from the teams' first Elite League meeting in Cardiff in September.