It was all one way traffic in the Storm Shelter on Friday evening as the home side got off to a quick start against the visiting Nottingham Panthers. A powerplay after just ten seconds saw the Storm’s specials team get some good looks on net, only thwarted by Bednard between the pipes. The flow levelled out in the mid stages of the period with both teams creating offensive pressure. What turned out to be a fairly even first stanza ended scoreless with the Panthers only ahead on the shot clock.

The deadlock was broken four minutes in to the new period when a turnover at the blue line saw Herr latch on to a pass from Neilson with the former lasering a wrist shot past Weninger. Exactly seventy seconds after the restart the Panthers doubled their lead when Roy, unassisted, beat Weninger up high and from a tight angle at the netminders near post. In response the Storm visibly upped the tempo and this persistence finally paid off, with five remaining in the period, as Durflinger tipped in Garcia’s shot from the blueline to half the deficit.

The high tempo hockey continued in to the third and final period with some highlight reel saves being produced by both netminders. However it was the Storm who scored next equalising as Harrison latched onto a rebound out in front to beat Bednard with a well placed shot. Somewhat against the run of play the Panthers regained their one goal lead through as unassisted effort from Henbrant who had a free run on net and beat Weninger up high. With less than five minutes in the game the Shelter erupted when a strong shot from Sullivan found the back of the net after Bednard was unsighted by traffic infront. With the scores level a five minute sudden death overtime period was forthcoming. Unfortunately for the home side it was the Panthers who took the two points after scoring 13 seconds into overtime to record a 4-3 scoreline.

Words by: Kristian Stokwisz