Nottingham ends 12-year wait for Cup group stage victory in Sheffield

Nottingham Panthers won their first Challenge Cup group match in regular rules in Sheffield in more than a decade, skating away with a 4-2 win in midweek over the Steelers at the Utilita Arena.

“We’re feeling really good, the boys played so well for me tonight,” Panthers goalkeeper Kevin Carr began. “We largely neutralized the chances that Sheffield had and that’s very positive for us. Defensively we were so good tonight. We were quite compact and didn’t spread out too much.”

What looked like a scoreless opening period for much of the frame came to life in the final five minutes. Before that, the Panthers had created the better chances – Matt Marcinew forced an early save after just six seconds, while Bryan Lemos also tested Eamon McAdam. The Steelers grew into the match and Nick Seitz’s shot flashed over the goal.

The hosts eventually opened the scoring after a rare odd-man rush against the run of play. Evan Jasper provided Robert Dowd with a neat backdoor finish just past the 15 minute mark. From the resulting faceoff, a collision between two Panthers defenders allowed Cole Shudra to pass to Kevin Carr, but the Nottingham netminder held on with a blocker save.

Didrik Henbrant had a glorious chance to level moments later after a 2-on-1 rush, but went wide. The Panthers tied the game before halftime after good work from Mitch Fossier to keep the puck alive, with Tim Doherty’s clearance catching McAdam off guard at 6:45.

The second period offered few clear-cut opportunities, but the Panthers took the lead on Nolan Volcan’s first goal of the season, finishing at 35:43 on a feed from Brendan Harris. Fossier almost extended the lead shortly afterwards, forcing an excellent glove save from McAdam.

“I think we’re getting opportunities, but right now we’re just not scoring,” Steelers’ Jordon Southorn said. “We outwit teams, we outshoot them, but we just don’t put the puck in the net. Sometimes in a long year you go through some goal droughts, but it’s hard to win a game when you let in four and only score two.”

Just 2:41 into period three, David Noël’s shot from the top of the circle beat McAdam cleanly to give Nottingham a two-goal cushion. The Steelers responded through Brian Diffley, whose deflected attempt on a faceoff found its way past Carr to make it 3-2 with just over nine and a half minutes remaining.

The Panthers hit the post late and came close again when the puck fell kindly to Noël in the slot, but their pressure paid off in the end. When McAdam was caught without his stick, Zsombor Garát fired home to seal the 4–2 victory with just over two minutes to play.

September 8, 2013 was the last time the Panthers won a cup match in Sheffield under regular rules, a 4–1 win that evening.

“We are a strong group there, we have the forwards here with the power to put pucks into the net and we have a lot of confidence in ourselves,” Southorn added. “It will come sooner or later and it will come in abundance. We do the right things and stick with the system.”

Sheffield Steelers – Nottingham Panthers 2:4 Nottingham Panthers Sheffield Steelers