Belfast Giants beat Coventry Blaze at SSE Arena
And home debut boy David Rutherford was the only player to score as the outstanding Stephen Murphy repelled three Blaze penalty efforts.
Brenden Walker fired Coventry into the lead in the first period but Brandon Benedict equalised before Belfast won the penalty shoot-out.
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Hide AdThe victory ends a run of four straight league defeats for the Giants, although they did enjoy a 5-2 victory over Manchester Storm in a Challenge Cup quarter-final, first leg, on Wednesday.
The sides will meet again on Saturday night in Belfast.