19 Mar 2025, 16:00 | Regular season | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham |
Nottingham Panthers | 5-1 | Cardiff Devils |
Periods: Shots: | 2-0 ( - ) | 1-1 ( - ) | 2-0 ( - ) |
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Referees: #3 Tom Pering,Sewell  |  Spectators: 4836 |
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Goals and assists
Nottingham Panthers moved into second place thanks to a convincing 5-1 win over fourth-placed Cardiff Devils on Wednesday night.
Panthers
head coach Danny Stewart probably couldn’t have drawn up a better
opening period. While the Panthers didn’t create a huge amount, they
gave up very little and came out with a two-goal lead.
Logan Neilson put the home side ahead after just 92 seconds when
Davis Bunz’s shot took a nasty deflection off Ben Almquist and fell
straight on the stick of Logan Neilson to shot home in the slot.
The Devils were almost level when Sam Duggan stepped into a wrist
shot in the slot but saw his shot come back off Jason Grande’s post.
Cardiff had two powerplay opportunities in the period, but only called
Grande into work from distance. In between those penalties, Sam Herr
rang a shot off Mac Carruth’s post as he shot somewhat speculatively
from the wing.
With the Devils enjoying their second powerplay of the game,
interchange play between Cole Sanford and Evan Mosey saw the puck get
turned over by Matt Alfaro who then fed Herr who raced away and beat
Carruth shorthanded at 17:23.
Cardiff were more on the front foot and creating better chances
in periods two, although the Panthers remained a threat on the rush.
The Devils really should have been on the board 10 minutes into
period two. Grande made an excellent save off Kohen Olischefski’s
initial shot, while a combination of Jaakko Niskala and Ollie Betteridge
threw their bodies in front of Sanford’s follow-up to keep the puck
out. Grande then covered a loose puck on the line to stop Sanford
tapping it in.
The Devils were finally on the board when Riley Brandy ripped a
wrist shot up and over the shoulder of Grande out of almost nothing with
just over eight minutes left in the second. Herr’s tight-angle shot
came off Carruth’s shoulder in the Panthers’ best chance of a period.
Although the Panthers were second best for a lot of period two, a
one-timer off Tim Doherty's stick from Cooper Zech’s feed, on the
powerplay, put the home side back two ahead.
Brant joined words between Cody Donaghey and Mitch Fossier at the
end of period two and ended up glove-punching Fossier, causing a scrum
as the players left the ice. The Devils came out of the melee short at
the start of period three, and that came back to hurt them. 63 seconds
into the period, Matt Alvaro beat Carruth high through a screen to put
the Panthers 4-1 ahead.
Just 66 seconds after that, Zsombor Garát's shot hit the
backboards and landed back in the slot for Herr to put home and make it
5-1. Donaghey’s diving block prevent the Panthers scoring again on a
3-on-1 rush a couple of plays later.
Evan Mosey came close to getting one back for the Devils but shot
straight at Grande, while MacDonald hit the crossbar as the visitors
pushed back.
That was, however, has good as it got for the visitors who were
restricted to just the gone goal on the road and fell to their third
successive road defeat where with four goals against. The Panthers moved
into second with the win heading into the weekend.