Nottingham Panthers moved into third in the Elite League and cut the gap to leaders Belfast to eight points with a 5-1 win over Dundee Stars at Motorpoint Arena on Wednesday night.
“I feel like we played great. We went to the net and brought a lot of pucks through,” said Panthers forward David Noël. “I thought we kept it simple and played very well.”
Matt Marcinew bundled the puck under Emil Kruse after a Didrik Henbrant shot to open the scoring just shy of nine minutes into the game.
Stars levelled at 11:05 when Kris Inglis beat Kevin Carr on the near side with a well-taken shot from a tight angle. Tim Doherty restored the Panthers’ lead 53 seconds before the break with a shot that may have deflected off Ross Armour in front.
“Some nights it just works better, and some guys are reading off each other more,” added Noël. “Tonight was one of those. It seemed like the game was simpler out there for us.”
Panthers were on the front foot for most of the middle period and took control of the game with two goals in just under two minutes. Nolan Volcan struck at 37:29 before Armour added his team’s fourth 1:58 later to put the hosts in a commanding position.
“I thought we played hard and stayed in the fight for a while, but those late goals in the second period took the wind out of us and made it a big task,” said Stars forward Spencer Naas. “Overall it was a decent effort, but not enough. We’ve struggled in front of the net all year. Tonight we had some good looks but Carr is a good goalie and sometimes there’s not much you can do.”
David Noël scored the only goal of the final period to wrap up a comfortable victory for Panthers, although Stars remained competitive through the opening 40 minutes.
“We never know what can happen with Belfast, and we’re going to be battling until the end,” added Noël. “We just have to be ready and try to win every game.”
Photo: Panthers Images
