Fri 30 Sep 2022 - 10:04PM
ELITE LEAGUE: PANTHERS 6-2 STARS
The Nottingham Panthers beat Dundee Stars 6-2 in the Premier Sports Elite League at the Motorpoint Arena on Friday night.
Panthers welcomed back Tanner Sorenson and Luke Ferrara into the line-up, while David Levin made his debut.
Alex Dubeau was given the start in-between the pipes, with 20-year-old Nottingham Lions netminder Luca Sheldon serving as back-up.
Nottingham lead by three at first intermission
Panthers took the lead after only 84 seconds as Brett Welychka and Mike Hammond combined to set-up Adam Brady at the backdoor (1:24).
A giveaway behind the net saw Panthers score their second with Sorenson feeding Jeremy Welsh in the slot at 13:15.
Nottingham netted their third on the powerplay as neat build-up play saw Welychka fire in Welsh's left-wing pass (16:55).
Sorenson extends Nottingham lead
Andrew Johnston set-up Sorenson to score from close range on his backhand as Panthers opened up a four-goal lead (23:16).
Brady, Hammond and Welsh all went close to adding to the scoreline, but were denied by Stars netminder Anton Svensson.
Puffer scores first goal of the season
The flow of the early stages of the third period was disrupted by a succession of penalties for both sides, before Craig Puffer made it 5-0 as he redirected Duggie Lagrone's shot for his first goal of the season (49:44).
Fabrizio Ricci got Stars on the board when he broke clear and produced a neat five-hole finish past Dubeau (53:19).
Lagrone and Philippe Sanche dropped the gloves and both got five-minute penalties, with the Panthers defenceman being assessed the 2+10 instigator penalty.
Stars grabbed their second on the resulting powerplay as Elijiah Barriga swept home a rebound from close range (56:10).
But there was still time for Welsh to net his second of the night as he created room in the slot to fire past Svensson (58:16).
Click here to view a full game photo gallery from Panthers Images.
Panthers return to action tomorrow as they go on-the-road to face Sheffield Steelers in the Challenge Cup (7pm face-off).
Click here to buy tickets for the game in Sheffield, or click here to buy the webcast.