Nottingham Panthers 5, Cardiff Devils 2
Panthers coach Corey Neilson paid tribute to Cardiff Devils after his team sent their Welsh visitors crashing to defeat at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.
Two goals in the last 70 seconds, the first of those an empty netter, sealed the home victory and Neilson was delighted his team earned a second win against Devils in eight days.
Panthers crushed Elite League leaders Devils 8-0 at Ice Arena Wales the previous weekend and followed that with this latest success.
“It’s amazing some of the good teams in our league who just can’t beat Devils for whatever reason,” he said.
“We match up well against them and have got their number a little.
“But they are a fantastic team with four deadly lines, six great defencemen and a top goaltender.
“Miika Wiikman is our best player right now and if he plays to that level and we protect him we have a chance of winning every game. Our D-men were amazing and the guys were warriors.”
Nottingham killed off a crucial powerplay midway through the match when Devils had more than a minute of 5v3.
Robert Farmer gave the Panthers the lead less than two minutes in to the game and Stephen Schultz doubled the home sides advantage in the seventh minute.
British forward Ollie Betteridge then put Nottingham 3-0 ahead just over five minutes in to the second period.
An unassisted Layne Ulmer goal in the 35th minute gave Cardiff a ray of light and then Haddad cutting Nottingham’s lead to one goal nine minutes in to the final frame.
Pressing for an equaliser, Cardiff pulled netminder Ben Bowns but slipped further behind when Robert Lachowicz fired the puck in to the empty net in the 59th minute before Logan MacMillan put the game beyond doubt 27-seconds from the end.
Devils defeat leaves them eight points clear of second-placed Belfast Giants, who have two games in hand, and 12 in front of third in the table Sheffield Steelers, who have played five games less than Cardiff.
The next test for Devils is a Challenge Cup quarter-final tie against Dundee Stars at Ice Arena Wales on Wednesday (7.30pm).
Ticket information is available from club’s official website or via the hotline on 0800 0842 666.
Match stats:
Scorers, Panthers: R Farmer 1+0, S Schultz 1+1, O Betteridge 1+0, R Lachowicz 1+0, J McMillan 1+0, J Brown 0+1, C Lawrence 0+2, B Moran 0+2, A Nikiforuk 0+1, D Spang 0+1.
Devils: L Ulmer 1+0, J Haddad 1+0, G Fournier 0+1.
Period scores: 2-0; 1-1 (3-1); 2-1 (5-2).
Shots on goal: Panthers 13+11+11=35; Devils 12+12+7=31.
Powerplays: Panthers 0/5; Devils 1/4.
Referee: Jan Schmejkal.
Attendance: 5,020.