Flames v Panthers

Match Report

Nottingham Panthers were beaten 4-1 on the road at Guildford Flames in the Elite League on Saturday night.

Panthers were without forward Otto Nieminen who continues his recovery from injury. Jason Grande started between the pipes with Luca Sheldon as back-up.

No goals in entertaining first period
The hosts hit the post twice and Mitch Fossier pinged a shot off the pipes for the Panthers all inside the first three minutes

Fossier had two chances midway through the period while Sam Herr and Didrik Henbrant also had efforts saved by Eamon McAdam.

At the other end, Grande denied Daniel Catenacci and Daniel Tedesco in quick succession.

Flames open up two-goal lead
Grande made two huge pad saves on Tedesco but soon after, Ethan Strang set-up Ryan Tait to score from close-range to put the Flames ahead (22:39).

James Shearer cut across the slot and beat Grande for Guildford's second (34:57), before Kristoff Kontos missed a chance to get Panthers back into the game when McAdam stopped his penalty-shot.

Panthers finished the second session strong with chances for Fossier and Tim Doherty.

Neilson on target but Flames take two points
Flames scored on a five-on-three powerplay through a clever redirect by Matt Alvaro (50:23).

Logan Neilson buried a rebound after a shot by Davis Bunz was saved to give Panthers some hope of a comeback (53:21).

But former Panther Brett Welychka sealed the victory for the hosts with an empty-net goal with Grande lifted for the extra outskater (59:43).