Sheffield Steelers came from behind to defeat the Nottingham Panthers 4-1 at the Motorpoint Arena.
In what was an excellent opening period from both teams, the Panthers struck first just 55 seconds in. On an odd-man rush, Nolan Vulcan waited for the perfect moment to slide the puck across to Matt Marcinew, who slotted past Matt Greenfield to give the hosts the early lead.
“It was a little bit of a rough start for us, giving them a few chances in the first period.” began Steelers forward Stephen Harper who scored two goals in the game. “As the game went on, I think we settled in nicely. By the third period we were doing good hockey things like getting pucks in and blocking shots and that’s what we have to do to win out there.”
David Noël made a key defensive play to deny Derek Gentile on a breakaway as both sides found space behind the opposing defences. Bryan Lemos forced an excellent save from Greenfield on a one-timer, while Cooper Zech saw his effort from a 3-on-1 kept out.
The Steelers started the second period quickly, tying the game only 29 seconds in when Stephen Harper knocked a loose puck through Jason Grande’s five-hole. Jordan Kelsall rattled Greenfield’s water bottle from the other end as the Panthers pressed to retake the lead, but without success.
Six and a half minutes after levelling, Harper grabbed his second of the night by tapping home a rebound from Joona Huutala’s shot to put Sheffield ahead. From there the visitors looked the more dangerous side and could have added to their lead but for several key stops by Grande.
Nottingham failed to convert on a powerplay at the start of the third period and were punished when an excellent lay-off from Nick Seitz set up Brien Diffley to make it 3-1 at 46:45.
The Panthers pushed hard to get back into the game and thought they had scored with 6:56 remaining, but the Steelers bench successfully challenged for goaltender interference and the goal was waved off. About 90 seconds later, with Nottingham still pressing forward, Evan Jasper broke down the wing and fired an excellent shot past Grande into the top corner to seal a 4-1 Steelers victory.
“If we clean up the start, I don’t think we gave them much during the game. It’s still early in the season and hopefully we can continue this momentum. If we keep things simple and play to our structure we’re going to have a chance to win every night with out goaltending” concluded Harper.
Photo: Panthers Images
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