Panthers secure four point weekend as title rivals flounder

NOTTINGHAM Panthers kept their Elite League title hopes alive, sealing a four-point weekend while their top-of-the-table rivals floundered.

Neither victory was easy for the Panthers as they scraped past a revived Sheffield Steelers 4-3 after a penalty shoot-out on Saturday before edging past Hull Stingrays 7-6 on Sunday.

But the four points see Nottingham move onto 66 points with Belfast Giants second on 67 and leaders Coventry Blaze on 70.

The Blaze were less emphatic as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat at Sheffield Steelers on Friday night before bouncing back with a vital two points against fourth-place Cardiff Devils on Saturday.

The Giants also won on Saturday, beating Edinburgh Capitals 3-1, but crashed to a 4-3 defeat in the second of their double header in Scotland on Sunday.

In the other two matches of the weekend, the Stingrays hammered fellow strugglers Newcastle Vipers 7-1 while the Devils also bagged a defeat of the Vipers, winning 7-4 on Sunday night.