By Kris Smith
The Stars were down one player heading into Nottingham as defenseman, Kris Inglis served his one-match suspension for boarding against Fife Flyers last Sunday and that meant experienced forward, Josh Brittain would drop back to fill in on defence.
With only two points separating both teams in the league standings, each side were determined to get the win in order to get their momentum going early in the season but it would be close battle all-night long.
However, Dundee would instantly be put on the back foot as forward, James Phelan was punished for a hooking foul just 26 seconds into the match and the home side would get their powerplay unit out early.
The Stars killed off the penalty well and were helped by goalie, Kevin Carr who started the game off in fine form, making a number of big saves in the first few minutes.
Nottingham then had to kill off their own penalty as Myles McGurty was called for holding in the 10th minute, but they would survive through the two-minute penalty before opening the scoring on 13 minutes.
Panthers forward, Mathieu Lemay had played through teammate, Westin Michaud towards the Stars net but he was forced wide, where he quickly spun and played the puck back out in front of goal, slipping it underneath the legs of Carr in the process and as the Dundee keeper had committed to Michaud, it left Lemay open to shoot into the gaping goal.
After falling behind, the visitors quickly ramped up their efforts in search of an equaliser and the level of physicality was quickly raised with big hits being delivered across the ice.
The Panthers would fail to capitalise on another powerplay in the opening period but held their lead going into the second session, where they would then take three penalties in 15 minutes, giving the Stars a chance to generate momentum and a range of chances on the powerplay.
Read the full report below!
All images: Panthers Images.
