Panthers come from behind to beat Flyers

Photo: Flyers Images

Nottingham Panthers ended their eight-game winless run with a comeback win over Fife Flyers in Kirkcaldy on Sunday night, coming from 2-0 and 3-1 down to move off the foot of the table.

The Flyers started well and put Rok Stojanovič under pressure in the opening phases of the game, but had Kevin Lindskoug to thank for a good pad save on Tyler Welsh inside the opening five minutes. The deadlock was broken with 5:44 played as Stojanovič stopped a Troy Lajeunesse shot, but Vitalijs Pavlovs was the player to notice where the loose puck was and poke it home under the Panthers goalie. Teemu Pulkkinen doubled the lead with a nice finish at 12:23 to put the home side two ahead, although the Panthers pulled one back 93 seconds before the end of the period through a one-timer on the powerplay from Mathieu Lemay.

The visitors continued to grow into the game and killed off a penalty at the start of the second but they fell 3-1 behind at 25:32 off an excellent first shot whipped top corner by Troy Lajeunesse. Undeterred, the Panthers pulled one back through Otto Nieminen at 26:59 after Lindskoug spilled a Didrik Henbrandt into the slot. Hugo Roy tied the game with a shot in the slot that went through a screen to find the net at 32:49. Logan Neilson hit the frame of Lindskoug's net as the Panthers ended the period the stronger team, but with the scores level.

Nottingham took their first lead of the night with another Lemay powerplay one-timer, an almost identical goal to the one he scored in the first period off a Jake Ryczek pass. Roy also put the visitors 5-3 ahead as he broke down the wing and attempted to beat Lindskoug short side but to no avail. Teemu Pulkkinen came closest to tying the game on a Flyers powerplay but only found Stojanovič from point-blank range with 12:32 remaining in the period. Alexander Lunsjo hit the crossbar and side of Lindskoug's net as the Panthers broke 3-on-1 with just under the minutes to play, the chance coming after an extended period of pressure from the Flyers which saw them put plenty of rubber on Stojanovič through traffic. Lindskoug was pulled with around 1:20 left in the game, but the Panthers almost settled things - however, Westin Michaud didn't hit the empty net and also failed to reach the red line, giving the Flyers an opportunity to cal la timeout on the icing call. Collin Shirley had a chance in front on the resulting play but saw it saved, and the Flyers struggled to work Stojanovič thereafter as the Panthers held on for the win.