Panthers' Stewart era starts with road win

Photo: Mark Ferris

Danny Stewart's first competitive game in charge of Nottingham Panthers ended in a shutout win over Manchester Storm in Altrincham on Friday night.

Ryan Bednard stopped all 21 shots he faced, while Didrik Henbrant, Kristoff Kontos, Matt Alfaro and Otto Nieminen netted the goals that secured the points.

The only goal of the opening period came 2:04 before its conclusion - Henbrant picked up the puck on the nearside boards in the attacking zone, circled Evan Weninger's net and then released a shot from the point, through a screen, to beat the Storm goalie and put the visitors ahead. 

4:43 into the second, Hugo Roy broke down the wing and found an unmarked Kontos in the slot to double the lead. 

Alfaro one-timed Cooper Zech's pass home on the powerplay at 31:29 to make it 3-0.

Manchester offered little in the way of a comeback in the final period, although Gianluca Estevez did ring a shot off Weninger's post inside the final minutes. Nieminen fired home with five seconds left to round off an excellent road win for the Panthers.