David Clarke leads Panthers past the Capitals.

After missing this weekends action as they traveled to Europe to play in the Continental Cup, the Panthers welcomed the Edinburgh Capitals to the NIC for Elite League action.

It wasn't long before the Panthers were up a goal, David Clarke struck on his first of the night at 5.50, also marking his 12th goal of the year.

Newly signed Czech forward Petr Kalus then doubled the score as with a powerplay strike at 11.13 as a 5 on 3 powerplay was winding down.

The teams went into the first break with Nottingham up 2 - 0, and also up 11 - 3 in the shot department.

Edinburgh were able to actually put shots on Neil Conway in the Panthers goal as they finished the second with 11 shots and late in the period they lit the lamp.

But that wasn't before David Clarke scored number two of the night, after a tight angle shot from Leigh Salters, Clarke tapped in the rebound for his 13th of the year and second of the night.

Marcis Zembergs got the only goal of the night for Edinburgh with 9 seconds separating the teams from the second intermission, scoring on the powerplay for his fourth of the year.

A Panther controlled third saw a lot of puck moving as they cruised to victory, and with the Capitals net empty David Clarke finished off his hat-trick with less than two minutes to play, giving Nottingham a 4 - 1 victory.

With the win, the Panthers move up into fifth spot in the EIHL with 20 points, and look to move up the table as they prepare for a double header weekend against the Cardiff Devils.

Edinburgh remain rooted to the bottom of the table, but have put together some recent wins which put them in a good position to move off the bottom soon.

Panthers Man of the Match - David Clarke - 3 goals

Capitals Man of the Match - Marcis Zembergs - 1 Goal

Tweets by @eurohockey