22 Sep 2024, 18:00 | Regular season | Guildford Spectrum |
Guildford Flames | 3-4 SO | Nottingham Panthers |
Periods: Shots: | 0-1 (13-13) | 0-1 (17-11) | 3-1 (11-6) | 0-0 (2-2) | 0-1 ( - ) | Total: 43-32 |
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Referees: Matthews/Rose  |  Spectators: 1690 |
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Goals and assists
Nottingham Panthers maintained their unbeaten start to the new season with a 4-3 shootout win in Guildford over the Flames.
Captain Sam Herr deflected a Matt Alfaro pass past Jake Kupsky with 8:51 gone to give the Panthers the lead on the powerplay.
The
visitors doubled their advantage 4:16 into period two. A mistake on the
offensive blue line by Travis Brown allowed Logan Neilson to skate
through on Kupsky, whom he beat with an excellent top-shelf snipe.
Guildford
were not out of things and had created chances themselves, just missing
the final touch to beat the impressive Rok Stojanovič. The Flames were
on the board 2:37 into the third, however, thanks to Daniel Tedesco
brushing the puck over the line after the Slovene goalie had stopped
Brett Ferguson’s initial shot.
A little over 10
minutes later, the puck broke kindly for Matt Alvaro to wrist home past
Stojanovič’s glove hand to tie the game.
A
late slashing call on Tedesco led to the Panthers re-gaining the lead
with just 3:29 to play – Hugo Roy converting in front off an Alfaro
pass. Guildford protested as the net was pushed out of position by
Kupsky as he slid across his crease, but as it led to an imminent
scoring opportunity it was correctly given.
With
1:28 to go, Kupsky was pulled in favour of the extra skater as the
Flames chased an equialiser. After some half chances, Charlie Dodero
found a seam to Tedesco who fired the puck into the roof of the net to
tie the game with only eight seconds remaining.
Overtime
was end to end but the Flames arguably should have won it, only for
Stojanovič to come to the Panthers’ rescue on multiple occasions. The
bonus point was eventually decided in a shootout where Kristoff Kontos
scored the decider in sudden death to give the Panthers the victory.