Nottingham Panthers to face Cardiff Devils in Elite League Grand Final

Nottingham Panthers will face Cardiff Devils in Sunday’s Elite League Play-Offs Grand Final.

The two sides will meet in the decider after contrasting semi-final wins at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham on Saturday

The Panthers beat arch-rivals Sheffield Steelers 4-3 after sudden death overtime.

The Panthers and Steelers is one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in UK hockey and this dramatic game was the latest chapter in their history.

The defending champions Steelers took a 2-0 lead approaching the end of the second period with goals from Sam Tremblay and Mitchell Balmas.

However, a late powerplay saw Cooper Zech put the Panthers on the board before the second intermission, and it set up a thrilling final 20 minutes.

Reid Stefanson tied the game for the Panthers just two minutes after the restart and it looked like his side had completed the comeback when Mitchell Fossier scored with just over two minutes remaining.

Steelers pulled their netminder for an extra attacker and Balmas equalised with 81 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Just 34 seconds into the extra period, Sam Herr was the hero as the Panthers captain put his side into the final as his shot beat Matt Greenfield and ended the Steelers’ season.

The Devils were comfortable winners over the Belfast Giants in the first semi-final.

Joey Martin gave the Welsh side an early advantage but they put the game on ice with four unanswered goals in the second period with Cole Sanford scoring twice and Josh MacDonald and Zach O’Brien also on target.

The Giants were searching for their second Grand Slam in three seasons and had beaten Cardiff in five out of their six meetings on the way to winning the Elite League title and also in the Challenge Cup final in March.

However, the Devils, who are looking for their first trophy in three years, were quick out of the blocks and Martin fired them in front after only 68 seconds.

The rest of the first period was a tight affair with both goaltenders, Ben Bowns from Cardiff and the Giants’ Jackson Whistle, making key saves.

It was in the second period that the Devils seized control against an out-of-sorts Giants side who never reached the heights of their best form shown all season long.

MacDonald rounded off a period of sustained pressure to make it 2-0 and then a pair of goals, nineteen seconds apart, effectively sealed the win.

Both were scored by Sanford and both owed a little bit of luck as on the powerplay his shot deflected off the stick of Giants captain Mark Cooper and then almost immediately, Sanford’s attempted pass hit the skate of Josh Roach.

Both redirections gave Whistle no chance but the Devils had earned their luck. They were by far the hungrier team throughout the game.

With the Giants reeling, O’Brien’s superb solo effort made it 5-0 before the second intermission and ended the game as a contest.

Bowns went on to record the shutout in a man-of-the-match performance.