Pictured above: Coughler battles for position with a Panthers defender (photo James Assinder)
The Devils struggled to get much going in the open period, but the main talking point was Brandon McNally and Mathieu Tousignant dropping the gloves – with McNally getting ejected for leaving the bench to engage in the fight.
The Devils were level 2:18 into period two through Brodie Reid on a rebound from his own shot. Mark Richardson tapped home at the back post after a nice deke from Matt Register to make it 2-1 at 25:49 before the Devils went on to hit two in 17 seconds.
Pictured above: Richardson is set up by Register for the go-ahead goal (photo James Assinder)
Cole Sanford finished after two Devils shots were blocked by Panthers defensemen at 28:48, followed by Trevor Cox fired into a half-empty cage from Jake Coughler’s feed – a goal upheld after video review to check for goalie interference.
Justin Crandall had an open net to aim at after the Devils turned the puck over on the blueline, and Stephen Dixon made a nice spin to pull Carr over one side and set up the easy finish with 31 seconds left in the period to head into the second intermission up 5-1.
Pictured above: Register celebrates after Sanford scores (photo James Assinder)
Period three was a less intense affair although the game did get chippy in the closing phases. The Devils couldn’t find any further way past Kevin Carr, while the Panthers did manage another goal inside the final minute through a Mark Matheson shot from just inside the blueline. Edwin Hedberg was awarded a late penalty shot for the Panthers but couldn’t beat Carruth who finished with 32 saves.
Pictured above: Carruth stops Hedberg on the penalty shot (photo Dave Williams)
Brodie Reid was selected as Man of the Match with a goal and two assists on the night.  The two teams are back at it on Sunday in Nottingham for the second game of this weekend series.
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