Sun 11 Dec 2022 - 6:30PM
ELITE LEAGUE: PANTHERS 5-2 DEVILS
The Nottingham Panthers beat Cardiff Devils 5-2 at the Motorpoint Arena in the Elite League on Sunday afternoon.
Panthers were without the injured Mike Caruso, Duggie Lagrone and Craig Moore, while Archie Hazeldine and Jack Hopkins were on international duty with Great Britain at the Under-20 World Championship in Lithuania.
Sixteen-year-old Archie Salisbury played for the second successive night on loan from NIHL side Peterborough Phantoms. Alex Dubeau got the start in goal with Jack Berry as back-up.
Summers fires Panthers into first-period lead
Dubeau made a good early save from Joey Martin while Mathieu Gagnon threw himself to stop a goalbound puck on the line.
David Levin hit the pipes but moments later Panthers went ahead, as great work from Stephen Anderson found Kelly Summers who fired past Taran Kozun from the blueline (12:27).
Panthers piled on the pressure as Mike Hammond and Luke Ferrara were denied by Kozun on the same shift and then Gagnon went close after great work by Levin.
Three-goal second period sees Panthers take control
Brett Welychka made it 2-0 on the powerplay with his 12th goal of the season as a bullet of a shot from the left circle flew across Kozun into the top right-hand corner (22:01).
Panthers superbly broke two-on-one for a third goal as Mike Hammond fed Fabrizio Ricci on the rush (26:43), before Tanner Sorenson's wraparound deflected to Luke Ferrara who batted it out of the air past Kozun (33:16).
Cardiff closed the gap in the final moments of the second period when Ben Davies tipped in Josh Brittain's blueline shot (39:21).
Welychka seals two points with empty-net goal
Ryan Penny squeezes the puck in at the near-post early in the third period to reduce the deficit to two (43:16).
Levin danced his way through the Devils defence but saw his shot saved by Kozun and at the other end, Dubeau superbly stopped a Cole Sanford breakaway.
Welychka sealed the victory with an empty-net goal for his second of the night (59:47).
Click here to see the photos from the game by Panthers Images.
Belfast visit Nottingham in the Challenge Cup on Thursday
Panthers are back at home on Thursday as Belfast visit the Motorpoint Arena for the first leg of the Challenge Cup quarter-final (7:30pm face-off).
Season ticket holders have until 6pm tomorrow (Monday) to take advantage of some huge discounts.
Adult, senior, student and disabled tickets will cost just £10 (plus usual arena fees), while teen and junior tickets will cost £5 (plus arena fees).
You can buy your tickets online or by calling the box office on 0843 373 3000.