Elijah Barriga: Fit-again forward nets twice in big Belfast Giants win over Cardiff

Belfast Giants forward Elijah Barriga scored a pair of third-period goals as his side overcame a one-goal deficit against the Cardiff Devils to win 3-1 in the first clash of the season between the perennial Elite League title contenders.

Jarrod Gourleyâ€TMs first-period strike for Cardiff stood up until the final 10 minutes before Barriga equalised and then gave the Giants the late lead in front of a sell-out crowd of 6327 at the SSE Arena.

Jordan Kawaguchi iced the game with an empty-net goal for the Giants.

Barriga moved to Belfast at the start of last season from the Dundee Stars but after just four appearances suffered an ACL injury that was season ending.

Surgery and a long recovery period followed.

"It was definitely a tough year last year. I would say more mentally than physically," said the 28 year-old Californian.

"There's a lot of things that go on in your head but you have to stick with it and grind it out."

After suffering such a serious injury, it was probably not surprising that itâ€TMs taken a few games for Barriga to find himself again on the ice, especially the physical side of the sport and taking a hit on the knee he had suffered the damaged ligaments on.

"I would say in the first few games, it's kind of just in the back of your head, right? You're kind of thinking about that and getting it out of the way and stuff like that.

"But ultimately, as you play more games, you feel more comfortable and it just comes natural. That's what it's been like the past couple of games for me, so I'm grateful for that."