The Panthers were dominant from the opening draw and could, and probably should, have tied the aggregate score, but for Drew DeRidder pulling off some exceptional early saves.
Storm took the lead on their first shot of the game when Dante Hannoun set up Brandon Cutler on the rush to put Manchester 3-1 up on aggregate at 05:37.
“It was a really back-and-forth game,” began Storm captain Chase Harrison. “We knew being one up from last night that Nottingham would push—they’ve a very good team—and no matter the situation we stuck to our gameplan and saw it through.”
Nottingham’s pressure eventually told when a Zsombor Garát shot bounced back off the boards for Mitch Fossier to score at 15:46, bringing the aggregate score back to one.
Manchester regained their aggregate advantage when Tyler Hinam worked the puck to Loren Ulett, who scored 13:45 into the second period. With 1:27 left in the period, David Noël fired through a crowd after DeRidder had lost his stick to tie the game on the night and bring the Panthers back to within one on aggregate.
“Honestly, we were looking at this as a whole new game, we didn’t have the mindset that we had the one-goal lead,” added Harrison. “Usually when teams try to protect a lead, things don’t go well, so we went out to win the game.”
The Storm got the perfect start to the third period. As a penalty to Mat Spencer ticked down, Gary Haden’s shot found the back of Kevin Carr’s net, possibly with a slight deflection from Tyler Hinam en route, making it 5-3 on aggregate.
Nottingham levelled again through Matt Marcinew, and with Carr pulled in the closing stages as the Panthers searched for the goal that would tie the matchup overall, late drama followed. Didrik Henbrant tipped Noël’s shot past DeRidder with just over 25 seconds remaining.
Tied after 120 minutes, the teams headed to overtime where they still could not be separated, although Carr produced a memorable save as the Storm almost won it.
Eventually, the series was decided by penalty shots. Brady Gilmour scored in the fifth round, and when Chase Pearson missed, it confirmed Storm’s place at their first-ever Playoff Finals Weekend.
“It was like it’s been all year: ups and downs,” said Harrison. “We had our goals, we had our gameplan, and we saw it through. We’re very confident in our group, we have a lot of trust in each other and believe we can beat anyone when we’re at our best.”
Photo: Panthers Images
