Nottingham Panthers earned their first win of the season, coming from behind to beat Manchester Storm at the Storm Shelter.
“I think we played as a unit really well in the third especially,” began Panthers goalie Kevin Carr. “I thought our penalty kill was excellent tonight. Guys were really buying in, blocking shots, and those little details really helped. ”
Manchester made the perfect start, striking just 12 seconds into the game when JD Dudek bundled the puck over the line in close to give the home side an early lead against a Panthers team that had lost both of their opening games.
“It was tough going down early, we bounced back,” added Carr. “It was, you know, one of those situations where you have to think ‘the game’s not over just because the goal goes in right away’, so I really liked the response from the guys.”
Bryan Lemos was called for tripping at 10:11, but after his teammates killed off the penalty the forward jumped back onto the ice and tied the game just 11 seconds after his penalty expired, sending the teams level into the first intermission.
Despite a series of powerplays, the game stayed tied for most of the second period. The Storm came closest when they beat Kevin Carr only to be denied by the post. The breakthrough came at 37:44, however, when Matthew Marcinew chipped a backhand shot over a sprawling Drew DeRidder to put the visitors ahead late in the frame.
The third period remained tight. Nottingham survived a bench minor for too many men and threatened repeatedly on the rush, but couldn’t extend their advantage. Storm called a timeout with 73 seconds left ahead of an offensive-zone faceoff and pulled DeRidder for the extra skater, but they were unable to keep the puck in the attacking zone. A footrace toward the empty net ended with Mitch Fossier being impeded from scoring, resulting in a penalty goal that sealed a 3–1 win for the Panthers.
Photo: Mark Ferris