Sheffield Steelers 1-5 Nottingham Panthers (Elite League) 01.02.20
Nottingham Panthers 2-0 Fife Flyers (Elite League) 02.02.20
After a week of disappointment losing last weekend’s Elite League double header before crashing out of the cup against Cardiff the Nottingham Panthers are back to their best after a crushing win on Saturday against the biggest rivals of all in Sheffield Steelers followed by a timely win and clean sheet against Fife on Sunday.
It was the final trip to Sheffield’s FlyDSA Arena this season for the Panthers with a debut for Mathieu Tousignant but what a reminder to the home crowd that Nottingham are no pushovers.
The Panthers took the lead in the first period through Julian Talbot his slapshot high over the glove of Steelers netminder Duba. Eberle levelled early in the second but from there the Panthers dominated with Herr netting during a powerplay before Malmquist added a third and Perlini finished off to make it 1-4 Panthers going into the last.
Nottingham fell apart in the final period against Cardiff in the cup but this weekend made no mistake with no answer back from Sheffield, instead it was Jake Hansen crowning off a perfect evening for the Panthers finishing off a cross ice path from Sam Herr to make it five.
On Sunday night it was very much an after the lords mayor show against a resilient Fife with the first two periods scoreless and the game much scrappier and less free flowing than the day previous.
It took Nottingham ten minutes into the final period to break down the Flyers defence when Julian Talbot netted his twelfth Elite League goal of the campaign before killing off a late powerplay as Fife looked for a leveller by pulling their netminder. As the away side pushed late on it was Jake Hansen who took advantage of an empty net and secured Nottingham a 2-0 win and maximum returns with a four point weekend.
*Main image @PanthersIHC perfect weekend for the Panthers with double delight.
