Panthers take extra point against battling Stars

Photo: Panthers Images

The Nottingham Panthers continued to lead the charge behind Sheffield at the top of the Premier Sports Elite League with an overtime win at home to Dundee, with the Stars earning their first road point of the league season.

Dundee were ahead after 20 minutes thanks to a nicely-worked goal with the teams skating 4-on-4. Breaking out of their own zone, some cross-ice passing saw Charlie Combs set up Gabriel Desjardins for a smart finish past Kevin Carr to give the Stars the lead with 2:08 left in the period.

After a calm first, the second burst into life with four goals during the final 10 minutes of the period. The Panthers drew level when Mark Matheson's blueline shot was blocked but Mathieu Tousignant was on hand to put the loose puck home on the powerplay at 30:05.

A bad bounce off the end boards caught Carr off guard, and after a few stabs at the puck Combs poked home to put Dundee back ahead just two minutes later. However, 90 seconds after going behind the Panthers were level again through Christophe Boivin, and by 36:41 Ollie Betteridge gave the Panthers their first lead of the night with the wonderful solo effort from one size of the offensive zone to another, before cutting in to shoot past Morrison.

Unlucky to narrowly lose out on their last visit to Nottingham, Dundee survived two penalty kills early in period three to ensure they only stayed a goal behind. With Matthew Myers sitting for slashing inside the final five minutes, Dundee needed just nine seconds of their powerplay to tie things when Desjardins' well-placed pass set up Sebastian Bengtsson for the one-time finish. 

Dundee had pressure in the final minute to try and find a winner, but both teams took a point as the game headed into overtime.

In the bonus period, Christophe Boivin needed only 59 seconds to earn the Panthers the extra point when he fired past Morrison to send the majority of the 4,689 crowd home happy.

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