Panthers end Steelers' streak

Photo: Panthers Images

The Nottingham Panthers got their first win over the Sheffield Steelers of the 2021 Elite Series with a 4-3 win on Friday night, ending Sheffield's five-game winning streak.

In a reversal of the last meeting between the teams, this time it was the Panthers who got off to a blistering start.

Brett Perlini opened the scoring with a neat finish 2:56 into the game, and just shy of the ten-minute mark Christophe Boivin doubled their lead. Mark Matheson made it three with 12:48 on the clock, Steelers' coach Aaron Fox decided a change was in order and pulled Ben Churchfield for Curtis Warburton after the goal, but an excellent period for the Panthers got even better when Boivin struck against with 1:23 remaining.

Period two was a more even affair and as the Steelers eventually find a way past Ben Bowns - Jason Hewitt scoring on the powerplay at 36:58.

Josef Mikyska snuck Josef Mikyska snuck the puck in at the near post at 46:26 to bring the Steelers back to within one with 13 minutes to play, and things got tense when Liam Kirk fired home with 91 seconds left.

However, the Panthers survived the Steelers' 6-on-5 pressure to record the Friday night win.

Gallery