A 3rd period Panthers goal ensured a point for each team ahead of overtime, then eventually penalties where the visitors outscored Flames 2-1 to secure a 3-2 win over the Flames on Spectrum ice.
Jordan Klimek and Ben O’Connor staked Flames to a 2 goal lead in the opening frame, but a last minute Adam Johnson powerplay strike pulled the visiting Nottingham Panthers back into the contest to start the 2nd.
In that middle set, Rok Stojanovic stopped all 10 period shots he saw while Eamon McAdam was good on the 13 he faced to leave it all to be decided in the 3rd.
About 9 minutes after resuming, Panthers pulled it fully level thanks to Didrik Henbrant but that was the final goal of regulation, forcing the teams to 3 on 3 overtime to settle the evening. An extra stanza solved nothing, so penalties were required where goals by Alexander Lunsjo and Mathieu Lemay countered a single by Brett Ferguson.
McAdam made 29 stops on 31 shots while Stojanovic went 41 for 43.
“It’s frustrating not to have secured a win on this night when we had plenty of opportunities to do so, long before we were in overtime or penalties,” explained Paul Dixon.
“We definitely came out hard in that first period and we probably should have been up by more than a goal. By the time they scored late to cut it to a single, we should have been well in front which would have made it a much more difficult climb for them the rest of the way.”
“Credit to them for hanging in there and creating more looks for themselves later in the game and eventually pushing it to overtime and penalties where it’s a 50/50 game at that point.”
“It’s a 3 point weekend, so there is a lot of positive stuff to take into the week which includes another crack at it Wednesday when Manchester come to town.”
