Tue 26 Dec 2023 - 6:30PM

26TH DECEMBER 2023: STEELERS 5-1 PANTHERS

The Nottingham Panthers were beaten 5-1 on-the-road at Sheffield Steelers in the Elite League on Tuesday.

It was an emotional return to Sheffield for the first time since the passing of Adam Johnson and the Panthers were given a beautiful ovation by the Steelers supporters pre-game and post-game.

Panthers, who were already without Josh Tetlow (broken arm) and Westin Michaud (upper body), had Rok Stojanovic (upper body) and Ollie Betteridge (lower body) ruled out on the day of the game.

Mike Robinson started between the pipes with Luca Sheldon as back-up.

Robert Dowd tapped-in at the backdoor to give Steelers the lead (3:34) and the GB international made it 2-0 when he drove the net after a quick Sheffield break (11:41).

Otto Nieminen set-up Hugo Roy to go top-shelf at the backdoor short-handed (16:00), before Marc-Olivier Vallerand fired in Sheffield's third from the slot on the powerplay (17:25).

Tyler Welsh was denied by a superb save by Matt Greenfield and at the other end, Robinson made an outstanding pad save to stonewall Mark Simpson from close-range.

Brett Neumann was allowed time and space in the right-circle to score Sheffield's fourth on the powerplay (39:06) and Cole Shudra blasted home a fifth goal with a one-timer from just inside the blueline (49:50).

The two sides meet again tomorrow at the Motorpoint Arena (7pm). There's a few single seats left in the bowl and they can be purchased now by clicking here.

There are some sightline seats in pairs or higher which can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 0843 373 3000 which reopens 9am on Wednesday morning. These still offer great views of the ice but with a minor obstruction.