Panthers win again at home to Devils

Photo: Panthers Images

Nottingham Panthers earned their second home win of the season over Cardiff Devils with another 5-2 victory at the Motorpoint Arena.

The Panthers were ahead 12:27 into Sunday afternoon's game through Kelly Summers who wristed the puck past Taran Kozun past a screen of players. The home side's lead stayed in tact in part thanks to an excellent leg save form Mathieu Gagnon with Alex Dubeau out of his net. 

Period two belonged to the home side who ran in three goals to extend their advantage. Brett Welychka sniped top shelf from the faceoff dot 2:01 into period two, followed by Fabrizio Ricci slotting home on a 2-on-0 to make it 3-0 at 26:43. Luke Ferrara extended the Panthers' lead to 4-0 when he banked the puck in off Kozun from behind the goal line at 33:16.

Ben Davies got the Devils on the board with 39 seconds left in period two, while Ryan Penny converted in close at 43:16 to bring the Devils back to within two goals after video review. Dubeau, however, was in fine form to deny Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford as the clock ran down. With Kozun pulled, Welychka added the insurance goal on the empty net to round off the Panthers' win - Corey Neilson's first at home and in regulation since returning as Head Coach.