13 Apr 2025, 17:00 | Play-off | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham |
Nottingham Panthers | 6-3 | Guildford Flames |
Periods: Shots: | 2-0 (6-12) | 2-2 (10-13) | 2-1 (15-14) | Total: 31-39 |
|
Referees: #9 Joe Sewell, #48 Oliver Truswell  |  Spectators: 6666 |
  |
Goals and assists
With a do-or-die game for Nottingham entering the second leg of the
quarterfinals against a 1 goal lead Guildford, it was clear that the
Panthers had come to play. The home team started the first period with
David Bunz receiving a Fossier pass, where he was then able to pull off a
slick wrist shot past Guildford’s McAdam, equalising the aggregate 3-3
1:43 in.
Just under a minute later, Samuel Talbot saw himself pick
up a minor penalty due to a high-sticking foul. Nottingham used this to
their best ability, where a passing play from Zech to Fossier allowed
the Panthers to catch an out-of-position goalie and ultimately take the
aggregate lead 4:3 only 3:36 into the matchup.
As the teams
entered the ice for the second time of the night, a powerplay went the
way of Guildford after Cooper Zech received a hooking minor. The Flames
were able to convert this due to Ethan Strang shooting the puck past a
screened Jason Grande, equalising the aggregate at 27:35.
Nottingham
saw another penalty go their way in the form of Zsombor Garat and a
tripping call. Guildford once again converted this into a power-play
goal after a pass in front of the goal from Ethan Strang allowed Brett
Welychka to tap the puck into the net, allowing the Flames to take the
lead 4:3 in terms of aggregate at 31:01.
An equalising goal was
soon found after Hugo Roy took a rebounded puck and shot it straight
back on goal to score at the 36:07 mark. Less than a minute later,
Fossier decided to double up after receiving a pass from Doherty, which
he used to shoot and score over the shoulder of McAdam at 36:51.
Period 2 closed out with the Panthers holding a one-goal lead in the 5:4 aggregate.
In
the final period, Nottingham were gifted a shootout chance following a
tripping penalty from Marcus Tesink. Fossier went up in a 1-on-1
shootout against McAdam, where he took an extremely slow approach,
waiting for a mistake from the goalie. Fossier was able to provide the
Panthers with some breathing room after scoring to make the aggregate
6:4 at 46:48.
Brett Ferguson was able to find Guildford a chance
to keep themselves close after a powerplay goal went his way at 48:56.
However, Nottingham were able to defend their lead as the period crept
to a close, and to ensure that a semi-final spot was secure, Matt
Spencer took a ice long shot on an empty net which led to a final
aggregate score of 7-5.
The Nottingham Panthers now see themselves facing the Sheffield Steelers in a semi-final matchup in the Motorpoint Arena.