NOTTINGHAM, UK – The five-horse race for the EIHL title is heating up. The Nottingham Panthers fought hard to take four points away from a key rival and skip to the number two slot with games in hand on the leaders.
The weekend’s action began with a road to trip to face off against local rivals, the Sheffield Steelers. A poor defense by the Steelers allowed the Panthers to romp home to a 4-1 victory in which debut forward Guillaume Doucet picked up where he left off in the EIHL by netting a debut goal.
Sunday was a more competitive affair as the Cardiff Devils visited the Panthers and intimidated their way to 2-0 first period lead. The Panthers regrouped over the intermission and early in the third period took a 3-2 lead. It wasn’t to last as the Devils pulled it back to 3-3 within the last ten minutes and forced the game into over-time. Forward Max Parent emerged the hero after notching the sudden death over-time goal securing the two points for the home side. Both teams were deserving of their points in an exciting top of the table match up that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
It came as no surprise that such critically important match-ups yielded various lumps and bumps for the medics to treat. Parent picked up a head injury during the Cardiff game when he was hauled down on a breakaway, he went on to score the aforementioned winning OT goal but complained of dizziness after the game and is being assessed before the Panthers face the Coventry Blaze on Friday. Though the club confessed there have been other injuries they seem to be relatively minor and shouldn’t affect the roster come Friday.
With the title race in full swing it looks like the medics will be on the front line as much as the players by turning around the injuries as quickly and safely as possible enabling the Panthers to maintain the momentum that has allowed them to take 13 points from the last 14 available. One small consolation for Corey Neilson is that he is not the only coach facing treatment room woes.
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