The Nottingham Panthers lost their perfect record in the Challenge Cup this season as they lost to main league rivals the Sheffield Steelers 4-3 in a Saturday night clash at home.
Heading into the game the home side already looked on the back foot with Cooper Zech continuing to be out with injury and Kristoff Kontos being out as a precautionary measure, this forcing British forward, Jordan Kelsall, to drop back to keep three defensive pairings.
An awkward bounce over the top of Panthers netminder Ryan Bednard gave the visitors the early lead just after the first minute with the goal being credited to Mikko Juusola.
Nottingham would be quick to return the favour just four minutes later as Tim Doherty scored his third goal of the campaign, however parity didn’t last long as 41 seconds later Marc-Olivier Vallerand gave the Steelers the goal that would see them heading into the second period.
The Panthers started the second period with a lot more purpose and it took less than 90 seconds to tie the game up once more as Didrick Hendrant raised the roof with the goal of the night, a quick release off balance shot to the opposite corner.
Late in the period the Steelers would take the lead once more, after Jaakko Niskala would give away a penalty shot, and despite the crowd’s best efforts to put him off, Brandon Whistle would capitalise on the opportunity giving the away side another one goal advantage.
Both sides battled on hard into the final 20 minutes with nothing giving until Nottingham Netminder Ryan Bednard coming to the bench for the extra staker which was quickly taken advantage of with a snipe from behind his own goal line from Kevin Tansey.
The home side wasn’t to give up just yet however as captain Sam Herr gave his team a fighting chance in the final minute redirecting a shot from Didrik Henbrant past Matthew Greenfield.
Despite their best efforts the Panthers would lose their undefeated record for the season, making it the 20th competitive loss in a row against the Sheffield Steelers, their last win being on the 25th September 2022.
Head coach Danny Steward said on Panther TV after the match that “I thought we matched them tonight and so there’s a lot of positives”.
The Panthers are back in action on Sunday in the Challenge Cup with a road fixture against the Coventry Blaze, a team they beat the previous week 3-2 in another close match up.
“It’s always tough going to the Skydome for opposing teams” Stewart mentioned when discussing their upcoming game against Coventry. The head coach also added “It’s a good test to see how we bounce back”.
*Article provided by Dylan Pick (Ice Hockey Correspondent).
*Main image @PanthersIHC action between Sheffield and Nottingham.
