Nottingham Panthers 4-0 Belfast Giants (Elite League) 16.02.20

It was a massive winning weekend for Nottingham Panthers as Tim Wallace’s team completed a maximum point return from their two games after Friday night’s victory over Fife was backed up by a thumping win over fellow title chasers Belfast Giants.

There’s been some great victories but not many better performances all year than this 4-0 win at the Motorpoint Arena with the result now taking Nottingham to within four points of leaders Sheffield Steelers but more importantly with three games in hand on the table toppers following the Steelers double defeat against Dundee and Fife.

Whilst second placed Cardiff Devils still look strong with a game in hand on Nottingham, the Panthers moved back up to third after leapfrogging Belfast who overtook Nottingham for one night only following their Saturday night win over Manchester.

In a topsy turvy table that is frequently switching places Tim Wallace and his side will now believe they have a very good chance of winning a first league championship since 2013.

Things started well for the Panthers when Adam Deutsch netted after just a minute in the first period and when Julian Talbot doubled the advantage during a powerplay questions started to gather on whether Belfast had even turned up tonight.

In the second period things got even better for the homeside when in front of a vocal local support one of Nottingham’s newest Canadian signings Mathieu Tousignant got his first goal for the team.

Soon after the noise went up further decibels as Lepine went at it with Pelech with punches exchanged with the latter also getting two minutes for slashing. Nottingham making the most of the advantage with a powerplay goal, Dylan Malmquist making it 4-0 on the night going into the third.

As Tousignant and Reddox went toe to toe in a fiesty hot tempered encounter Murphy continued to be the busiest of the two netminders but Kevin Carr in the Nottingham goal shown why he’s the best around with a flashy back handed save before Giants had a goal under review eventually ruled out.

In a game where everything went the way of Nottingham including yet another shutout for Kevin Carr the team now face the final thirteen games of the season very much with aspirations that mission improbable could be done.

*Main image @PanthersIHC fighting spirit as the Panthers close the gap on those above.