Panthers v Stars

Match Report

The Nottingham Panthers recorded a convincing 5-1 victory over Dundee Stars on Wednesday night.

Panthers were without the injured Ollie Betteridge, Mathieu Lemay, Josh Tetlow and Tyler Welsh, while Félix Paré served the final game of a three-match suspension.

Joe Hazeldine returned to the line-up after illness. Rok Stojanovic made the start between the pipes with Mike Robinson as back-up.

Stojanovic made some big saves on an early Dundee powerplay, including a huge stop to deny Ryan Valentini.

Neilson netted his first Elite League goal at home - and his second in three matches - as he slotted the puck home at the backdoor following a great pass from Westin Michaud (12:42).

A swift counter-attack saw Panthers go 2-0 up as Stojanovic made the save at one end and Anthony Luciani set-up Hugo Roy in the slot (18:10).

Nottingham's third also came down to speed as Michaud found space on the right-hand side and fed Alexander Lunsjö (24:08) after Dundee had failed to convert an odd-man rush.

Otto Nieminen tipped-in Myles McGurty's shot from right-point to make it four (34:14) and Neilson was the provider for Didrik Henbrant, who waltzed through the offensive zone to fire into the top corner to give Panthers a 5-0 lead (46:00).

The visitors scored a late consolation goal through Jake Elmer's rebound (52:04), but Panthers were always on top and secured a vital two points to close the gap on the playoff places to four points.