No room for complacency - Giants 4 Panthers 6

The Panthers crept into town licking their wounds after a Christmas mauling from their â??otherâ?? arch rivals, Sheffield, and caught a tired looking Belfast side on the hop in what turned out to be a winning backlash.

The Giants needed to be sharp after two comfortable back to back wins at the weekend, but Panthers applied the early pressure and it was easy first blood for Joel Salonen who was given space to round the Belfast net unopposed and knock home the opener.

Panthers got the first powerplay of the game which came and went, but a shakey Giantsâ?? defence wasnâ??t instilling any piece of mind with the Odyssey faithful. Ruff and Taubert had a few words and a tussle as the ten minute mark passed, with both taking 2+2 for the wasted effort, and it was clear that Giants would miss their captain and leading points scorer before Panthers would miss their man.

Salonen made it 2-0 at 11.16, but Jason Bowen answered just over 2 minutes later. Panthers netminder was left stranded out of position and Bowen pounced on the loose puck to make it 2-1.

At the other end of the ice however, Ryder was no more lucky as his D left with little help when a loose puck bounced from his glove and nobody had the presence of mind to clear the crease, before Jinman accepted the late Christmas present.

Brad Kenny reduced the deficit to 3-2 in the final minute of the opening period on the powerplay and it was all to play for.

Brit player David Clarke, extended the Nottingham lead again when the home defence was again found wanting. Belfast managed to hold off two Panther powerplays, before getting their own. Having no luck there, Ward was sent to the bin and Kelman joined him with a 10 minute misconduct for good measure. Craighead made it 5-2 on the resulting powerplay.

While the game was won in hindsight at that point, the fun didnâ??t stop with a never ending final five minutes to go in the period. Curt Bowen took a 10 minute misconduct, and just over 20 seconds later, the Ruff / Taubert drama kicked off again and Jason Bowen stepped in to help his captain. All three players were thrown out while the penalty boxes were full to bursting at the end of the period, with Giants registering 6 shots on goal to Panthersâ?? 14.

With heads screwed back on for the final period of the year, the Giants mounted a comeback for the final 10 minutes of play. Schulte scored on the powerplay, with Ward and C.Bowen assisting. With the team looking like they actually wanted to win the game, the Odyssey crowd looked and sounded their most alive in a long time willing the team on. Curt Bowen gave them what they wanted with a superb bit of skating through the Nottingham defence before netting to make it 5-4 at 53.33.

With all to play for in the final minute, Ryder was pulled for the man advantage, but Belfast hopes were dashed in the final 30 seconds when Cadotte got the empty netter and put the points beyond reach.

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