Sat 16 Mar 2024 - 9:30PM

16TH MARCH 2024: STEELERS 3-2 PANTHERS

🎟 NEXT HOME GAME: SAT 23RD MARCH v SHEFFIELD (7PM) - BUY TICKETS HERE 🎟

A short-benched Nottingham Panthers secured a point on the road in a 3-2 defeat by Sheffield Steelers after penalty shots.

The Panthers were without the injured trio of Mike Caruso, Carl Neill and Logan Neilson, while Jake Ryczek also missed out after picking-up an injury during Friday night's game in Dundee.

Former Steelers netminder Rok Stojanovic started between the pipes with Luca Sheldon as back-up.

No goals in quiet first period
A quiet opening period saw Sheffield have the majority of the pressure with Stojanovic making good saves to deny Josh Nicholls and Sam Jones.

For the Panthers, Nieminen went close while Alexander Lunsjö saw his backhand shot saved by Matt Greenfield

Michaud equalises for Panthers
Another tight period saw few clear-cut chances but Sheffield went ahead when Marc-Olivier Vallerand put away his own rebound after initially being denied by a good save from Stojanovic (33:49).

Panthers hit back within 94 seconds as a broken play enabled Stephen Anderson to feed Westin Michaud in the slot (35:23).

Nieminen scores fourth goal of weekend
Nottingham went in-front when Otto Nieminen cut across the zone and fired short-side from the left-circle on the powerplay (44:38) for his fourth goal of the weekend.

Sheffield equalised through Robert Dowd's top-shelf rebound from the slot (48:26) to take the game to overtime.

Panthers hit the post in overtime before Steelers win the shootout
​Stojanovic made a brilliant save to stop Daniel Ciampini's shot in overtime while at the the other end, Alexander Lunsjö hit the pipes in the final few seconds.

Lunsjö scored in the shootout for the Panthers but Steelers netted twice to take the extra point.

Panthers and Steelers meet again in Nottingham on Saturday
The two sides meet again at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday (7pm) in another massive game for both sides, with Steelers chasing the Elite League title and Panthers battling for points in their push for the final playoff places.

Tickets for the game - which is sponsored by Flowervision - are expected to sell-out so you are urged to purchase your seats as soon as possible.

🎟 NEXT HOME GAME: SAT 23RD MARCH v SHEFFIELD (7PM) - BUY TICKETS HERE 🎟