BOX OFFICE 0115 853 3000

Fri 10 Apr 2026 - 07:00AM

WEEKEND LOWDOWN: PLAYOFF QUARTER-FINALS

WEEKEND LOWDOWN: PLAYOFF QUARTER-FINALS Top Image

By Jono Bullard

With the league campaign done and dusted it’s time for the Elite League play-offs. After their third-place league finish, Nottingham Panthers face Manchester Storm who finished sixth.

The two-legged quarter-final will see Panthers travel to the Storm Shelter on Saturday night (19:00 face-off) before the return on Sunday at the Motorpoint Arena (16:00).

Panthers and the Storm have become very familiar with each other over the past couple of weeks and Sunday’s clash will be the fourth time the two sides have faced each other over the past 12 days, plus there is extra spice considering the clash in Manchester last Saturday yielded 222 penalty minutes!

The two teams have face each other eight times in the league and Challenge Cup with Panthers taking six wins to Storms two, broken down as one win each in the Challenge Cup group stages and five wins to one in favour of Danny Stewart's side in the Elite League regular-season.

In matches between the two, Storm top scorers have been Brady Gilmour (3+4), Gary Haden (3+4), Loren Ulett (1+4) and Stephen Johnson (0+5).

Panthers top scorers have been Mitch Fossier (3+6), Tim Doherty (5+2), Chase Pearson (3+4) and Bryan Lemos (4+2).

On special teams, Storm have scored four powerplay goals against Panthers in 22 attempts for a percentage of 18.18%.

Panthers have scored five powerplay goals in 23 attempts for a percentage of 21.73%.

The respective penalty-kills are 78.27% for Storm and 81.82% for Panthers.

Storm have managed 219 shots and scored 19 goals in the eight previous games this season, while Panthers have 308 shots on goal scoring 24 goals. With those figures, Storm have a save percentage of 92.20% compared to Panthers 91.32%.

Now all that’s left is for the talking to be done on the ice as Panthers look to defend the playoff title that the won in dramatic fashion last April.

Storm are aiming to make Playoff Finals Weekend for the first time in the Elite League era and the first time since making the final in 2002. It promises to be a tense and intriguing battle.