Published Sunday, 21 October 2012
The Belfast Giants and their travelling support in Germany. (© Diane Davey)
But the result merely ensured Doug Christiansen's side avoided the indignity of the wooden spoon.
A 7-1 defeat by the German host side Landshut on Saturday night had ended any hopes that the Giants could progress to the next stage of the competition in Italy.
Sam Roberts netted the opening goal in the first period when he sent a rasping shot into the roof of the net.
Early in the second period, Greg Stewart made it 2-0 with a slap shot when the Giants were short-handed after their opponents had a man in the penalty box.
Craig Peacock then added number three to give the Giants a three-goal cushion going into the final 20 minutes.
However, the Belfast side had to rely on a few smart saves from netminder Stephen Murphy to keep a clean sheet.
Graeme Walton had a couple of chances to increase the lead, only to be denied by the Romanian goaltender.
But Andrew Fournier netted the Giants' fourth goal to wrap up a comfortable win, although the result was cold comfort after their failure to progress to next month's tournament in Italy.