Giants v Panthers

Match Report

The Nottingham Panthers were beaten 2-1 on-the-road by Belfast Giants in part one of their double-header weekend in Northern Ireland.

Felix Paré made his Panthers debut and Simon Després returned to the line-up, but Panthers were without Ollie Betteridge, Josh Tetlow and Austin Farley while Joe Hazeldine failed a late fitness test. Mike Robinson got the start between the pipes with Luca Sheldon serving as back-up.

McGurty on target in even 1-1 first period
Panthers made a strong start with Myles McGurty scoring through a crowd with a shot from left-point (1:59).

Paré set-up a chance for Stephen Anderson, Mike Caruso had a long-range shot saved before Westin Michaud and Alexander Lunsjö went close on the same shift after Panthers forced a turnover.

At the other end, Robinson made great saves to deny Oliver Cooper and Kohei Sato, but could do nothing to stop Ara Nazarian's backhand top-shelf finish on the breakaway after a slip in the Nottingham defence (13:51).

Panthers hit pipes twice but Giants lead
Anderson, who made a superb diving block near the end of the first period, went close short-handed early in the second session, but Belfast went ahead when Ciaran Long set-up Will Cullen and his shot was deflected past Robinson (25:02).

Henbrant and Logan Neilson both hit the bar while Mathieu Lemay and Otto Nieminen had chances on successive powerplays.

Robinson continued to impress between the pipes and made good saves to deny Sato and David Goodwin.

Panthers pressure but Giants secure the points
Jake Ryczek saw his shot saved early in the third period while Neilson and Jordan Kelsall were also denied as Panthers pushed for an equaliser.

The Giants came so close to a third but Robinson superbly denied Greg Printz, before doing well to stop Long's effort.

Robinson was lifted for the extra outskater but Panthers struggled to get out the zone and Belfast held on for the win.