Panthers get important cup win

Photo: Panthers Images

Nottingham Panthers kept their chances of making the knock-out stages of the Premier Sports Challenge Cup alive with a 4-1 home win over Manchester Storm at the Motorpoint Arena.

Storm started well and were ahead thanks to Tyson Fawcett's bottle popper from the slot inside 12 minutes. Jack Hopkins netted his first of the season for the Panthers to tie things up after ice work from Archie Hazeldine and Mike Hammond to set up the back-post finish.

12 seconds into period two, Cameron Critchlow was ejected for a check from behind on Doggie Lagrone which saw the Panthers player leave the game on a stretcher. The home side needed just over a minute to make their numerical advantage count with Brett Welychka slotting home at the back post, followed by Jeremy Welsh making it 3-1 at 22:18. The 34-year-old then struck seven seconds before the end of the period to put the Panthers up by three.

That was where the scoring ended, with the visitors unable to force a way back into the game in the final period.