Storm respond with Panthers victory
MANCHESTER Storm lost to champions Cardiff Devils on Saturday night but put in a massive performance at the Storm Shelter the following evening to beat Nottingham Panthers 4-3 in overtime.
On Saturday Mike Hammond scored for Storm to level things up in the first period, but no goals came in the middle period as net minder Matt Ginn was on top form. Cardiff went ahead through Fournier and as Storm chased an equaliser, Cardiff wrapped things up through Pope.
Storm then took to the ice against Nottingham Panthers, who included two ex-NHL players in their side.
Ciaran Long and Felix Poulin put Storm 2-0 in front in the second period before Panthers struck back and took a 3-2 lead. Talisman Linden Springer levelled the scores to take the game into overtime and captain Dan Byers bagged both game points with a penalty shot to send the crowd home happy.
Byers said: “We have had a tough run but there is a lot of belief in the squad that we can climb the table and with back-to-back home wins it’s looking good.”
Head coach Ryan Finnerty said: “We played well in Cardiff and were unlucky to come away with nothing but the team showed great character (against Nottingham Panthers), taking the lead and then fighting back the way we did.”
Storm travel to play Nottingham on Saturday and then return to Altrincham to entertain the Fife Flyers on Sunday with a 5.30pm starting time.