Five first-period goals did the damage for the Guildford Flames as they claimed their first win of the season, beating the Nottingham Panthers 5–2 at the Spectrum.
“We talked about starting on time as a team. Some of our starts in previous games haven’t been great, and we wanted to come out and prove that this isn’t an easy place for other teams to play,” said Jack Jacome. “We’re going to need everyone if we want to win, and it’s a testament to our group that we have a lot of different players with a lot of good ability.
“It’s still early so you want to keep building. We have a lot of new players, but I feel like we’re getting better every day. We have to be patient as a group and trust the process.”
Although the Panthers tested Taz Burman just 20 seconds into the game and started the brighter, they found themselves three down in just as many minutes midway through the period. Josh Waller put home a loose puck to open the scoring at 7:27, and 2:20 later Charlie Curti fired home another. The goal was initially waved off for the net being off its moorings, but after review officials judged it to be a continuous play – the quick sequence from Kevin Carr dislodging the goal to Curti’s shot leading to their decision.
Carr stopped Waller’s effort only for Jack Jacome to bury the rebound at 10:57 to make it 3–0. Panthers Head Coach Danny Stewart called a timeout to calm his side.
That move looked to have paid off when Tim Doherty got the visitors on the board at 12:55, but the Flames would add two more before the first break. At 18 minutes, Ethan Strang fired high over Carr’s glove to make it four, while Jamal Watson and Jake Gravelle combined to set up captain Matt Alvaro 19 seconds before the buzzer.
“We started slow and weren’t prepared from the drop of the puck – Guildford were,” admitted Chase Pearson. “The second and third periods we were the better team; their goalie played well and we didn’t capitalise on our chances. I think if we play like that we can beat any team in this league.
“We need to try and take the positives from this weekend. It’s tough when you lose your opening two games, but I think we have the people in our group to do special things this year. There’s a lot of hockey left and I don’t think going 0–2 is going to faze us in the long term.”
The middle period produced no goals, although the Panthers saw two man-advantage opportunities go begging late in the frame. Zsombor Garát pulled a second back for the visitors 8:56 into the third, but that was as close as they came to mounting a comeback.
Photo: John Uwins