After a lively tie in regulation, earning both sides a point, it was Adam Keefe’s side who took the extra point as Lee struck for his eighth goal of the season straight off the face-off, driving in from the right circle and beating Lucas Brine with a pinpoint backhand shot.
It was just about deserved for the Giants, who were just about the better side across the piece despite allowing their Scottish visitors – whom they face in a New Year’s Eve matinee in Glasgow to round off their year – to peg them back twice during regulation.
Ryan Smith continued his red-hot form with his fourth goal in six games opening the scoring, while J.J. Piccinich and Ben Lake goals a minute apart in the second period – the latter’s his first of the season – looked to have been enough, only for a Jason Fram double and a Rylan Schwartz redirect to keep the Clan in it to the end.
But Lee called game a mere handful of seconds into the extra period to give Belfast, decked out in eye-catching festive gingerbread jerseys and backed by a 19-save display from Jackson Whistle, the two points and improve to 15-4-2 on the season, closing to six points back of the League-leading Cardiff Devils with three games in hand.
Chances were at a premium in the first period, Smith denied in front by Brine – 34 saves – while at the other end the shoulder of Whistle denied former Giant Daniel Tedesco from the right circle, but Smith did break the deadlock at 17:09 when he stabbed in the loose puck sitting in the crease for his 12th of the season.
Jordan Kawaguchi nearly added on early in the second period when a shot was deflected back into the crease and the winger hit the post on the backhand, but instead the Clan levelled as Fram netted his first, tipping in Colton Poolman’s shot 8:29 after the restart to tie the game.
Two goals in the space of a minute turned the game right back in Belfast’s favour, however, as Piccinich and Lake struck in quick succession, the former found driving the back post by Gabe Bast for the tap-in at 12:18 and then, exactly 60 seconds later, Bo Hanson kept Cade Neilson’s poor clearance attempt inside the zone and found Lake in the left circle for his first of the campaign.
However, just like in Fife on Sunday, the two-goal lead wasn’t enough. Fram grabbed his second at 15:19 of the middle frame to pull the Clan back within one, forcing it in under Whistle on the doorstep, and after Brayden Burke was denied on the breakaway by Whistle, Schwartz tied it again at 6:32 of the third, redirecting Mikhaili Teppo’s shot past Whistle.
That was enough to take the game to overtime, and it didn’t take long for defenceman Lee to come up with the goods and send the sold-out crowd into raptures.