Sheffield Steelers came from behind to beat the Nottingham Panthers 4-1 in the MotorpPoint Arena.
In what was an excellent opening period of both teams, the Panthers first only hit 55 seconds. On a strange man, Nolan Vulcan waited at the perfect moment to transfer the puck to Matt Marcinew, who slipped along Matt Greenfield to give the hosts the early lead.
“It was a bit of a rough start for us, so they got a few chances in the first period.” Steelers started forward Stephen Harper who scored two goals in the game. “As the game progressed, I think we settled nicely. By the third period we did good hockey things such as pucks and block shots and that is what we have to do to win there.”
David Noël made an important defensive game to deny Derek Gentile on an escape when both parties found room behind the opposing defenses. Bryan Lemos forced an excellent rescue from Greenfield to a one-timer, while Cooper Zech saw his effort kept out of a 3-on-1.
The Steelers started the second period quickly and tied the match for only 29 seconds when Stephen Harper hit a loose puck through the five-hole van Jason Grande. Jordan Kelsall rattled the water bottle of Greenfield from the other end, while the Panthers pressed to recapture the lead, but without success.
Six and a half minutes after leveling, Harper took his second of the night by tapping a rebound out of the shot of Joona Hutala home to put Sheffield ahead. From there, the visitors saw the more dangerous side and could have added them to their lead, but for several important stops from Grande.
Nottingham was unable to convert on a powerplay at the start of the third period and was punished when an excellent resignation by Nick Seitz Brien Diffley set up to bring the score 3-1 at 46:45.
The Panthers pushed hard to get back into the game and thought they had scored with 6:56 left, but the Steelers Bank was successfully challenged for the interference of goalkeeper and the goal was thrown away. About 90 seconds later, with Nottingham still ahead, Evan Jasper broke off the wing and shot an excellent shot along Grande in the upper corner to seal a 4-1 Steelers victory.
“If we clean up the start, I don’t think we have given them a lot during the game. It is still early in the season and hopefully we can continue this momentum. If we keep things simple and play in our structure, we get the chance to win every evening without a goal congregation,” concluded Harper.
Photo: Panters images
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