Nottingham Panthers continued their impressive home form with a commanding 6-2 victory over Fife Flyers at Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Friday evening, racing into a 3-0 lead inside the first ten minutes and never looking back against a visiting side that has now lost four of their last five.
Bryan Lemos was the standout individual with two first-period goals, but the real story of the evening was the pace and collective authority with which Panthers dismantled any hope Fife had of making a match of it. By the time Fife registered their first goal at 48:09, the home side were already six goals to the good.
Three goals in ten minutes settle it early
Panthers were in front inside five minutes. Lemos opened at 4:54, Nolan Volcan and Joshua Tetlow assisting, before doubling the lead at 8:18 with Didrik Henbrant and Zsombor Garat picking up the assists. Tim Doherty made it 3-0 at 10:13 — Brendan Harris and David Noel assisting — and Fife had barely had time to settle before they were three down at their own end.
Fife's discipline didn't help them recover. Milan Lucic was penalised for hooking at 14:18, and Andrew McLean picked up a double minor for high sticking at 14:26 — four minutes in the box for Fife at one of the moments they most needed to stay composed. They survived it, but the period ended 3-0 and the visitors' task was already formidable.
What makes Nottingham's first-period burst particularly effective is how it flows through three players in rotation. Doherty assists Noel; Noel assists Doherty; Harris is present on both. By the 21:16 mark of the second period, that combination had produced a fourth goal — Noel scoring from Doherty and Harris — making it three times in two periods that the trio had directly combined for a Nottingham goal.
It's a line that knows where to find each other, and Fife had no answer to it across the match.
Noel made it 4-0 at 21:16 as described, before a quieter spell in which Finlay Ulrick was penalised for hooking at 23:21 and Fife's Garet Hunt earned an unsportsmanlike conduct minor at 36:15 — the latter immediately leading to Pearson's power play goal at 36:29 from Harris and Zech to make it 5-0. Rowan Mills added another Fife tripping penalty at 37:12 to end a second period that had handed Panthers two further power play opportunities.
Marcinew made it 6-0 at 42:46 early in the third period from Spencer and Pearson, before Fife finally got on the scoresheet. Jameson's power play goal at 48:09 — Scheid assisting — came after Marcinew was penalised for holding the stick, and Scheid returned the assist by scoring himself at 54:31 from Lucic, giving the scoreline slightly more respectability.
A roughing altercation at 53:59 saw Fossier penalised twice simultaneously — roughing and cross-checking — with Jameson also picked up for roughing, but by that point the match had long been decided.
Fife's difficult week continues
Coming off last Sunday's 1-7 defeat at Sheffield, this is a second heavy loss in six days for Fife, and the fifth defeat in their last five away from Kirkcaldy. The two third-period goals give their stats a slightly better look, but the reality of conceding six — with no threat of their own for the first 48 minutes — is a difficult picture.
Christian Purboo started in goal for Fife, his second start of the week after coming on as a replacement at Sheffield on Sunday. Kevin Carr had a quiet evening in the Panthers net, as the scoreline might suggest.
For Nottingham, four wins in their last five and a home crowd of 6,542 well entertained. The panthers are building momentum at exactly the right time of the season.