It was a good night’s work for Manchester Storm on Sunday, but now they had to forget that and move on to Nottingham Panthers, a team who have beaten them in the previous two meetings.
With Steelers faltering to both these sides, there’s a chance for Panthers to get closer to the top in terms of points or can Storm go top with victory here?
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
06 Apr 21: Storm 1 Panthers 3
14 Apr 21: Panthers 4 Storm 3 (OT)
DAILY HEADLINES
PRE-GAME POLL
? WHO WILL WIN? ?
? @PanthersIHC ? @Mcr_Storm
? #2021EliteSeries
?@nottinghamarena
? 7pm
? https://t.co/RhJ2ud4uSk— British Ice Hockey ? (@BritIceHockey) April 19, 2021
GAME RECAP
NOTTINGHAM PANTHERS 4 MANCHESTER STORM 3
Nottingham Panthers stood firm in the final minutes to survive a late rally by Manchester Storm, but held on to record their third win in their last four games.
Tim Wallace’s men pulled themselves to within a point of the top of the standings as their resurgence in form continued, preserving their 100% record over Manchester in this tournament.
For Storm, after ending the losing run against Sheffield Steelers on Sunday, they were keen to build on it, with one eye on going top of the group in the final week of ‘regular season’ games.
However their best laid plans were scuppered after only five minutes when Ollie Betteridge struck an excellent shot past Sean Bonar in Manchester’s goal to put them ahead.
Both teams had decent chances, but Storm couldn’t find a way through as Panthers made the best of another of their chances a couple of minutes from the first break.
A Dominic Talbot-Tassi pass across ice found Nick Dineen, who executed a one-time finish as Nottingham doubled their lead.
They were soon three up without reply when Kevin Domingue was set up by Brett Perlini and he sent his shot into the net, giving them an excellent cushion.
Storm killed a five-on-three powerplay before getting one themselves to try and take an advantage and that’s how it worked when Jacob Lundell Noer scored to get them on the board at last.
Domingue struck again three minutes to the third, set up again by Perlini and delivered a shot in at Bonar’s glove side as Tim Wallace’s side restored their three-goal advantage.
A good passing move between Ciaran Long and Scott Simmonds set up Cam Critchlow, who slid in a low finish as Storm pulled another back on the powerplay.
Simmonds then tucked away the finish for Manchester’s third to make it a closer affair going into the final stages, finishing off Tyson Fawcett’s initial shot which was saved low by Jackson Whistle.
But that was it as Panthers survived to claim the points again.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Panthers 31 Storm 36
GOALSCORERS:
Panthers – Ollie Betteridge (05:51 – unassisted); Nick Dineen (17:43 – Talbot-Tassi PP); Kevin Domingue (22:52 – Perlini); Kevin Domingue (43:06 – Perlini)
Storm – Jacob Lundell Noer (38:10 – Gran, Fortier PP); Cam Critchlow (48:23 – Long, Simmonds PP); Scott Simmonds (52:45 – Fawcett)
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