Nottingham Panthers scored late to beat Sheffield Steelers in a top-of-the-table clash at a sold-out Motorpoint Arena on Saturday night.
“We played really well, it was two good teams and this is a really big win for us,” said Panthers’ Didrik Henbrant after his team came from behind twice before taking a late lead.
Mitchell Balmas opened the scoring 6:54 into the game when he was sent through by Sam Tremblay and backhanded his shot past Jason Grande, who was sliding the other way. Ross Armour hit the outside of the goal frame in Nottingham’s closest chance to tie the game, while Mikko Juusola passed up a great opportunity to double the Steelers’ lead when he opted to pass on a dangerous rush.
Just 38 seconds into period two, a puck bobbled on Cooper Zech at the point, allowing Balmas to race away and score shorthanded to make it 2-0.
“We have to have a better effort with the lead, we can’t be giving up leads,” admitted Steelers defenceman Kevin Tansey who saw his team give up the two-goal advantage. “It was a hard-fought game, we just have to be better playing with a lead.”
The Panthers generated offensive-zone time but struggled to seriously test Matt Greenfield until late in the period. After pressure around the Steelers’ net, Zsombor Garát eventually fired high past Greenfield while the goalie was scrambling. Sheffield challenged for goalie interference, but the call stood. The Steelers killed the penalty that followed the failed challenge and led 2-1 through 40 minutes.
Henbrant tied the game 5:40 into the third. “It was a great pass by Johnny Curran to find me open in the slot,” he said. “It showed we were very much still in the game and gave us a chance to win.”
However, just 70 seconds later, Nottingham were caught on an odd-man rush and Balmas completed his hat trick with an excellent finish past Grande.
David Noël levelled things again with 10:32 remaining, firing from the point for the second successive night. At 53:47, Sheffield were called for too many men and, four seconds into the powerplay, the Panthers went ahead. Noël’s shot was saved, but the rebound fell for Tim Doherty to set up Ross Armour for the go-ahead goal.
“These are the fun games to play, so it’s easy to get excited for them,” smiled Henbrant. “We’re a team that can always come back, even if we’re down going into the second or third period. It gives us confidence knowing we’re never out of a game.”
Greenfield left the net with 2:04 remaining, and the Steelers called a timeout to set up a final push, but they could not force a last chance and Nottingham held on.
“Greenfield has been MVP of the league two years in a row, he’s the best in the league, it’s not even close,” added Tansey. “He’s consistent every single night. We definitely got the offence going tonight. Mitchell Balmas and Robert Dowd are scoring at a really high rate. Our penalty kill was good, there were definitely positives for us.”
Photo: Panthers Images
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