Sat, Dec 8 - Devils Vs Panthers

6th Dec 2012 | Posted by Simon Rafferty

Saturday night see’s the Devils in action in their only game of the week taking on the Nottingham Panthers at home in Cardiff. This will be the fifth meeting between the two clubs with the series currently standing at two games apiece. The Devils will no doubt be keen to make amends for last times 5 – 0 shutout in Nottingham. While the Panthers will want the two points to keep their hunt got the league title on track.

We’ve taken a good look at the Panthers squad the last few times they’ve played the Devils which you can check out here http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/news/devils-vs-panthers-challenge-cup-preview/  the Panthers have made one further change which was the dropping of injury prone defenseman Martin Tuma who's debut with the Clan saw him.. you gussed it get injured.

The Panthers were last in action on Wednesday taking on the Coventry Blaze in a doubled up League and Challenge cup game, speaking before the game Nottingham’s coach Corey had this to say. 

"You just have to glance at the league table to see how big each and every game is at the moment, we want this one, we want revenge for losing in Coventry a couple of weeks ago, we want the points in both the league and the cup, in short, we want it!"

The first period started slowly with the Panthers leading by a shorthanded goal at the end of the first period after Matthew Myers found the net at 8.30.

Panthers doubled their lead early in the second as Myers netted again at 21.21. They then went three in front with a strike from Bruce Graham at 27.10. Shortly after this the Blaze pulled one back as locked out NHL forward Beleskey netted at 29.16. He then got a second at 35.38 to reduce the deficit to one.

Nottingham restored their two goal lead at 41.15 with goal from Robert Lachowicz only for Beleskey to complete his hat trick 19 seconds later to get the Blaze back to within one for the second time. However try as they might and even with Hirsch pulled in the last minute they failed to get the leveler and the Panthers took the points.

Coach Corey Neilson said afterwards: "When you don't play as well as you can and still find a way to win it's a good sign."

Nottingham Panthers 4 – 3 Coventry Blaze

Prior to this the Panthers were last in action on Sunday where another “impressive” display from Panthers as they came from behind to win easily in the end while outshooting their hosts by a massive 52 to 17 on the way to moving into second place in the league standings, only two points behind leaders Belfast and with a game in hand.

The opening period saw Panthers well in control with a shot count of 2 to 4 but some fine goaltending from Nic Riopel ensured the score remained blank after twenty minutes.

Only 45 seconds into the second period and Stars shocked Panthers by taking the lead with a strike by Sami Ryhanen against his old club but the visitors were not fazed by this and went back on the attack, levelling the game at 28.49 with a shorthanded effort by Bruce Graham and then edging ahead when Robert Lachowicz scored at 33.51.

Little changed in the flow of the game in the third period with Pat Galivan firing Panthers 3-1 ahead at 43.05 and David Clarke adding a fourth at 46.50. Stars had no way back and the scoring was completed by David Ling at 58.13 to end a very productive night for Corey Neilson’s men.

Panthers heavily outshot their opponents and Corey Neilson had this to say afterwards. 
"It was a solid performance; their only offence came on the back of giveaways really. We did what we had to do, there were some good performances and the momentum from Friday carried us through."

Dundee Stars 1- 5 Nottingham Panthers

Looking at the scoring for the Panthers against the Devils it’s been  David Ling who’s scored 4, Matthew Myers who’s scored 3, Pat Galivan on 2 and David Clarke on 2 who’ve done the damage.

Overall David Ling on 33 points leads the scoring for the Panthers with Matt Francis on 30 points, Bruce Graham on 25 points, Pat Galivan on 24 and Robert Lachowicz 22 making up the bulk of the panthers scoring.

I can’t find mention of anyone being out with injury for the Panthers so we could we see them with a full bench this Saturday. David Ling really looks the one to watch for the Panthers this season along with Matt Myers who seems to have hit a sudden run of form.

For details of the last lamentable meeting between the Devils and the Panthers you can check out our review here http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/news/weekend-review-24th-25th-november/

Looking at the Devils stats versus the Panthers so far this year our stand out guys have been Mac Faulkner who has 2 goals and Chris Blight who’s also scored twice on the Panthers, we will unfortunately likely be missing Max Birbraer who’s lit the lamp against the Panthers 3 times so far this season.

The Devils come into this game off the back of a great weekend against the Steelers having taken wins both home and away, all the details of which you can read here http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/news/weekend-reveiw-december-1st-2nd/

The Devils could well be missing Max Birbraer and have this week seem  the departure of forward Bari Mackenzie but have also seen the roster bolstered with last weekend’s return of Mark Richardson.

We will be running the “ridiculously childish and disgustingly biased” Match Night Live service for this game, expect name calling and one eyed bias in epic proportions, at the usual location of http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/mnl if you'd like to help out by texting updates (we’d be happy to hear from you) or chip in with some comments on the night please contact us at matchnightlive@gmail.com.

For details of upcoming away travel with Red Army Travel you can get all the information here http://the-inferno.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6212