Jason Grande secured a 38-shot shutout as a short-benched Nottingham Panthers beat Manchester Storm 3-0 in Altrincham to remain top of the Elite League table.
Already without Mitch Fossier and Jordan Kelsall through injury, Panthers lost Didrik Henbrant and Brendan Harris in the second period.
Grande started between the pipes with Luca Sheldon as back-up, while Kevin Carr and Jakob Stridsberg were the healthy scratches.
Early Henbrant goal puts Panthers ahead
Henbrant gave Panthers an early lead when he banked the puck off the netminder Drew DeRidder from close-range after the set-up by David Noël (01:47).
Storm got stronger as the period progressed and Grande had to be at his best to turn away efforts by Joseph Nardi and Brandon Cutler.
No goals in tight second session
Grande denied Cutler and Loren Ulett on a Manchester second-period powerplay and also made a huge pad save on Harrison Caines.
Panthers lost Henbrant and Harris to injury – the latter after a hit by Ulett who was given a five-minute major.
Ross Armour, Matt Alfaro and Noël had chances on the resulting powerplay, but Storm saw off the penalty as their deficit remained at one at the second intermission.
Doherty and Alfaro goals secure two points
​Nolan Volcan hit the pipes with a backhand effort in the third period and Matt Mariciew went close.
Grande made a string of top-class saves on his way to a second shutout of the season.
Doherty’s redirect from Alfaro’s shot gave Panthers some breathing space (56:21) and Alfaro sealed the win with an empty-net goal when he chased down a loose puck in the corner (58:57).
Panthers back at home tomorrow (Sunday 14th December)
Following a run of five successive away games, Panthers return to the Motorpoint Arena tomorrow (Sunday 14th December) to host Fife Flyers (16:00 face-off).
There are just a handful of tickets left dotted around the arena, so you’re urged to secure you seats asap.