Sunday Hockey !

18th Oct 2012 | Posted by Simon Rafferty

Sunday night see’s the Devils in action at home (which makes a nice change after the recent run of away games) against the Nottingham Panthers. The Panthers currently sit 3rd in the league 2 points clear of the 4th placed Devils. The Devils will be keen to get a win on home Ice after a less than stellar run of results of late.

Prior to Sundays game the Devils travel to Sheffield to face the Steelers in the challenge cup on Friday while the Panthers have a break until the game Sunday.

We looked at the Panthers squad in some depth at the start of the season which you can check out here http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/news/devils-vs-panthers-challenge-cup-preview/ if you missed it.

Since that preview and the last time we saw them the Panthers have added 2 new imports in forward Anthony Stewart and the return of stalwart defenseman Guy Lepine.

Steward joined the Panthers from the Carolina Hurricanes' in the NHL on a lockout contract which would see the winger released from the Panthers to return to the Hurricanes when the NHL resumes. Stewart who’s notched up two goals and 3 assists for the panthers in six games could be returning to Carolina as early as next week if the NHL lockout is as expected by many resolved in the next few days.

Panthers general manager Gary Moran had this to say  "For the good of the game we want the lockout to be resolved, of course we do. But for selfish reasons, we want Anthony to stay with us as long as possible. He is a joy to work with and we are happy to have helped him getting up to match-fitness."

The lockout in North America also saw a return to Panthers for defenseman Guy Lepine, whose target of playing in the America Hockey League (AHL) was hit by NHL players dropping down to their farm teams in the AHL.

The signings of Stewart and Lepine took Panthers' imports tally to 13 – two more than they would be allowed by the league to ice. However the arrivals handily coincided with a bit of an “injury crisis” resulting in Panthers still playing short-staffed on Imports.

Looking at the Injuries for the Panthers Player-coach Corey Neilson (“baddy” knee) is the most seriously injured and could be out for another month. Jonathan Weaver is back on the ice after breaking his hand, forward  Jordan Fox (knee) will miss this weekend but hopes to be fit enough to return for the three-game Scotland trip next weekend.

Defenseman Martin Tuma, returned to the line-up last weekend against Hull but his game was cut short when he took a puck to the face in warm-up, he could possibly be back to face Cardiff in on Sunday.

Offensively the ones to watch for the Panthers look to be David Ling (8 Goals, 5 Assists), Matt Francis (6 Goals, 7 Assists), David Clarke (4 Goals, 6 Assists) and Brue Graham (4 Goals, 6 Assists).

In nets the Panthers are more than adequately back up by Craig Kowalski who this season to date has posted a 91% save percentage with a goals against average of 2.24

Last weekend saw the Panthers in action twice first up at home to the Stingrays in a doubled up “Elite League/Challenge Cup” (shouldn’t be allowed in my view) match and then away to the Blaze on Sunday in a Challenge cup match up.

Saturday started slowly for the Panthers with only a solitary goal separating the teams at the end of the opening period with a goal for Panthers David Clarke at 12.04

The home side doubled their lead early in the second period with a power play goal from Guillaume Lepine at 25.21. Matt Francis then added a third with a shorthanded goal at 34.13

Then two goals for the Panthers in a space of 32 seconds put the game out the reach of the Stingrays. At 38.14 David Ling made it 4-0 and then at 38.46 Jason Beckett made it five and easy for the hosts.

Nottingham added a sixth and final goal 61 seconds into the third period as Bruce Graham was on hand to convert.
Panther’s goaltender Craig Kowalski turned away all 17 shots he faced to become the third goalie this season to record a shutout.

Final score Nottingham Panthers 6 – 0 Hull Stingrays

Sunday saw the Panthers make the short trip to Coventry where the Blaze were welcoming their own NHL player Matt Beleskey of the Anaheim Ducks for his first Game in the league.

The opening period saw Blaze take the lead after 7.40 with Greg Leeb scoring before things “kicked off” with Guy Lepine squaring off with Egener of the Blaze which was shortly followed by Lee for the Panthers Vs Beleskey.
The score remained unchanged until Panthers tied it up at 33.41 with a strike from Anthony Stewart, leaving the game poised at 1 - 1 going into the third period.

It was Blaze who edged ahead again at 48.36 with a shot by Dustin Cameron and try as they might Panthers were unable to come back a second time, with Brad Leeb firing into the empty net with 5 seconds remaining to seal the home victory.

Final score Coventry Blaze 3 - 1 Nottingham Panthers

The Devils go into the game after a loss to the Giants away last weekend 6-3 and a match on Friday against the Steelers with hopefully no injury problems but without Import defenseman Jamie Milam who was released earlier today. The Devils may well see the debut of a new Import on Sunday as its been suggested a new signing is imminent but that waits to be seen.

If you can't make the game on Sunday, shame on you (unless it’s like really far or you just don’t really fancy it) but fear not as you can still keep up as we'll be running the "Ridiculously childish" and "disgustingly biased" Match Night Live service for this game, at the usual location of http://www.the-inferno.co.uk/mnl

If you'd like to help out with texting updates we’d be happy to hear from you or if you'd like to chip in with some comments on the night please contact us at matchnightlive@gmail.com