The Nottingham Panthers struck back on Sunday [15 February].
Danny Stewart’s squad weathered the storm to beat the Belfast Giants 5-3 on home ice, reinvigorating their title hopes and bringing the Elite League‘s top four teams back within a six-point margin.
The Sheffield Steelers also played their part, winning 4-2 over the Coventry Blaze, to plant a seed of doubt in the mind of Adam Keefe.
“We got what we deserved tonight,” the Canadian said.
“Maybe a handful of guys played well, but the rest of them had bad nights.”
Welcome to Around the Rinks, our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Sunday, 15 February
Nottingham Panthers 5-3 Belfast Giants
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants (Image: Dean Woolley)
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
I wasn’t unhappy with our performance last night, but we just found that extra ten percent: puck battles and races. We wanted it just a little bit more than last night and that was the difference.
I can’t praise the guys enough. There were a couple of momentum shifts where it could’ve gone the other way. I thought up until Belfast scored their first goal, we played a really good hockey game.
I told the guys in the break that we deserved more than score suggested and they went out in the second and played a heck of a period. They showed great character, maturity, and it was beautiful play to give us a bit of a cushion.
It was a great team performance.
Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants:
We got what we deserved tonight: we weren’t very good at all. Maybe a handful of guys played well, but the rest of them had bad nights. It’s tough to win when you have that many guys having tough nights. The frustration is that we still could’ve got a point out of that game if we’d tightened up defensively. It’s just not a recipe for winning.
Sheffield Steelers 4-2 Coventry Blaze
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
It’s good to get the two points. It wasn’t easy, they’re playing very good hockey right now, and I didn’t hate our game at any point. Maybe we were a little off it in the second period, but winning from a 2-0 deficit is great. We needed to find a way to stay in [the title race], so that’s a big win for us.
Kevin Moore, Coventry Blaze:
It was a pretty hard-fought game. We know that a 2-0 lead against a team like Sheffield isn’t safe. I felt like we competed really hard and our details were good for most of the game. The couple of breakdowns that led to goals are the ones that we’re not happy about because they’re obvious.
On the momentum, we didn’t gain possession enough to settle back into the game. Ultimately, it was a good, hard-fought game.
Dundee Stars 5-2 Fife Flyers
Bradley Schoonbaert, Dundee Stars (Image: Scott Stevens)
Marc LeFebvre, Dundee Stars:
I’m happy for the guys: we needed a response after last night, we had a chat, and the guys responded. Everybody bought in tonight: I loved our physicality and compete right from the get-go. We went right after those guys and it was good to see some guys dropping the gloves.
I’m very proud of the effort and we need to carry that on. We can’t have one game on and one game off: we need to carry on against Guildford.
Jamie Russell, Fife Flyers:
We played with a real short bench last night and that caught up with us. As the game progressed, the bench got even shorter. I give Dundee credit, they came out and pushed the pace early.
Guildford Flames 2-3 Cardiff Devils (Overtime)
Paul Dixon, Guildford Flames:
Quotes yet to be provided.
Paul Thompson, Cardiff Devils:
I thought we were horrible in the second period. But we pushed the pace back in the third and created a lot of opportunities at five-on-five. Then, we got the powerplays and we’re just happy to come out with the win.
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