Nottingham Panthers logged a crucial two-goal win over rivals Sheffield Steelers to stay in the title race in front of a 9,389-strong crowd at the Utilita Arena.
“I thought it was a good, gritty win for the guys,” said Panthers goalie Jason Grande. “We stuck to it, it wasn’t easy. We know what’s on the line, but I think we’re playing care-free in a good way, and I think that’s showing on the ice.”
The first time the puck hit the net, referees Tom Perring and Steve Brown went to the monitor for a suspected kick-in. Steve Brown was first out of the box pointing to centre ice to award the goal, with Joona Huttula getting the deflection off his skate. The first period was dominated by the Steelers, outshooting the Panthers 24-1. Two powerplays and sustained offensive zone pressure kept the Panthers on their heels in the opening 20.
“It felt like it’s been a long time coming, but I was happy to be out there with the guys,” said Liam Steele, who made his debut for the Steelers. “I felt like it was a game that could have gone either way. We had a lot of shots but didn’t capitalise on them.”
Nottingham equalised just over a minute into the second period. Tic-tac-toe passing left McAdam stranded, allowing Ross Armour to tap home. After a strong spell of pressure, the Panthers went ahead, with Wednesday’s hero Didrik Henbrant skating with pace to beat Jordon Southorn on the outside before laying the puck on a plate for Bryan Lemos.
“If I’m being honest, this season has been a bit up and down for me,” admitted Grande. “So coming in here I told myself I was going to play no matter what happened, wasn’t going to over-think things and keep it simple, don’t care about what happens and keep my head down.”
Just 57 seconds into the third, Matt Marcinew’s snipe beat Eamon McAdam to put the visitors two ahead.
“I trust the process and the coaches, they’ve been doing it for longer than I have,” said Steele of his call-up. “Tonight our first period was good, we dominated them, and if we can do that for a full 60 I think we have enough to get the win.”
Sheffield got one back with just over nine minutes remaining as Evan Jasper beat Grande on a play that saw Panthers’ Zsombor Garát take a nasty-looking injury as he went into the boards.
The Panthers were penalised for too many players on the ice with 4:27 to play, a call that did not go down well with the bench. Head coach Danny Stewart was ejected from the game. The call was made for something said to the officials, no gestures were made as may have seemed at the time.
The Panthers held out on the penalty kill, setting up McAdam to leave the net with a minute to play. It took just eight seconds for Jakob Stridsberg to find the empty net.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but we found a way. Tomorrow on our home ice, we’ll be flying and hopefully can give the fans a good show!” concluded Grande.
With EIHL match report
Photo: Hayley Roberts