Nottingham Panthers 3 Braehead Clan 0

Boosted by the season debut of Mike Bayrack but without ill player/coach Drew Bannister, Clan were unable to stop the powerful Panthers of scoring a 3-0 success to complete a four-point home weekend and second spot in the standings at this early stage in the season.

A very dominant home side outshot their visitors by 17 to 3 in the opening period and only a great display by goaltender Jaakko Suomalainen kept Panthers at bay – or did until Scott Champagne fired into the top of the net on the powerplay at 18.51.

A more even second period with both sides missing a couple of powerplay chances but no goals, leaving everything to play for in the third.

An early interference call on Clans’ Matt Haywood proved crucial as Stephen Lee fired home through traffic on the powerplay at 41.21 and with Clan unable to make inroads into Craig Kowalski and a solid home defence it was left to  Robert Lachowicz to fire into the empty net to complete the scoring with 45 seconds left and Kowalski to complete a 22 shot shutout shortly afterwards.

Period Scores: 1-0, 0-0, 2-0
Penalty Mins: Not 12 – Bra 14
Powerplay: Not 2/7 – Bra 0/6
Shots On: Craig Kowalski 22 / Jaakko Suomalainen 40 + 1 ENG

Referee: Andy Carson