🏆 Bonus Play-off Edition: Day of drama sees Devils and Panthers progress
A day to remember as weekend begins with a blast
When all said and done, it was the kind of day where you need a few days to recover. Fans of Cardiff Devils and Nottingham Panthers have under 24 hours to hype themselves up again.
What a day of action as the Elite League play-off semi-finals produced not one, but two fantastic games which would serve as a wonderful advert for the sport.
Now you have a final where two teams are looking to complete their own redemption against the backdrop of noise, atmosphere and - let’s be honest - a room full of fans of other teams glad to not see Belfast Giants and Sheffield Steelers grace the finale.
The top two seeds were favourites this weekend and it would have been hard not to argue otherwise.
Belfast, recently crowned Elite League champions, looking to fit the final piece of their treble jigsaw, like they did two years and the Steelers, seeing their own treble wrenched away a piece at a time, holding on the play-off trophy for dear life.
Now they’ll have to go at it in the third place game tomorrow, serving as the opening act for the big game afterwards, with the feeling from either of them it should have been them.
What about the games though?
Cardiff locked horns with the Giants with only one win against them all season and blew them away in a 5-0 rout, a result no-one saw coming.
It was an unusually disappointing performance from the Giants on a stage where they usually excel and to be shut out as well by an excellent Ben Bowns is another eyebrow-raising aspect.
Joey Martin set the tone with an opening goal within the opening couple of minutes and despite their best efforts, Bowns was in a stingy mood.
Enter the period that was to define Giants’ progress in their quest for a third trophy and four unanswered Devils goals effectively killed off the Teal Army’s hopes.
Josh MacDonald made his chance count on 24 minutes after Jackson Whistle had repelled a couple of Cardiff efforts.
Then came Cole Sanford, sweeping one in from the centre before finding the net with a diagonal shot 19 seconds later. Belfast were floundering.
Zach O’Brien’s superb solo finish was the icing on the cake late in the middle stanza, allowing the travelling Cardiff contingent to revel in their team’s terrific performance.
After a disappointing regular season by their standards. taking the play-off trophy back to South Wales for a fourth time would be something to enjoy.
Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers followed afterwards with both rivals making the noise across the ice from opposite sides of the Motorpoint Arena.
What took place on the ice is a contender for one of the best ever semi-finals in the competition in a tie that went one way, then another followed a couple of twists to add to the drama.
It seemed like the other nine teams’ fans were rooting firmly for the Panthers, but it didn’t seem to bother Aaron Fox’s men as they went about their jobs well.
It took Steelers until the 19th minute break the deadlock as Samuel Tremblay hit his shot off Jason Grande’s pad and into the net.
They looked good for their lead, with Mitchell Balmas winning the puck on the right and beating the Panthers goalie with a low shot.
It seemed like Nottingham couldn’t quite make the step up to the big stage. But everyone knows in ice hockey, one goal can do a lot for momentum.
Panthers were on the powerplay as Cooper Zech sent a shot into the bodies in front of the crease. A neat touch from Hugo Roy was enough to take it past Matt Greenfield.
If ever a team needed a timely reminder they were still in the game, it was the Panthers and what a boost it gave them.
Reid Stefanson got a redirect on Davis Bunz’s shot in front of the Steelers net for their equaliser. The tension was palpable as the officials checked the footage for a high stick. Turns out there wasn’t one. Game on.
Tension was high. Who was going to blink first? We thought it was Steelers as Tim Doherty’s chance was saved well by Greenfield, but the Steelers goalie couldn’t reset himself quickly enough for Mitch Fossier to bury the rebound. With two minutes to go, the comeback was complete.
Not so fast. Balmas got his second of the night, dealing with a loose puck within a minute later and it was all even again. It really was next goal’s the winner.
We all love a great story and Panthers will bid farewell to their captain Sam Herr once the weekend is complete as he hangs up his skates.
It was almost written in the stars when he slammed in the winning goal after finding the puck loose on the right side and given the run of that side of the ice to score the winning goal.
The job was done and it would be Panthers taking their place opposite the Devils to finish off a breathless day.
Will we do it all again tomorrow? Sure, why not?
🗣️ POST GAME REACTIONS
It’s been quite the day so let’s round up the reactions from both games, interviews courtesy of the Elite League on X, unless stated.
Post Game Press Conference with Adam Keefe and Pete Russell
Belfast Giants captain Mark Cooper
Cardiff Devils netminder Ben Bowns
Sheffield Steelers head coach Aaron Fox
Nottingham Panthers head coach Danny Stewart
Sheffield Steelers forward Mitchell Balmas
Nottingham Panthers forward Mitchell Fossier
Nottingham Panthers captain Sam Herr - Nottingham Panthers on X
🏆 FINAL PREVIEW
So now the final two are known. Cardiff and Nottingham will contest the showpiece finale for the fourth time, but Devils will have to turn the tide of history as Panthers have won the previous three.
Pete Russell and Danny Stewart will end the season with something to show for their efforts and while Cardiff already have the Intercontinental Cup in the cabinet, this one could mean a little more.
Cardiff’s regular season didn’t go as planned and coming into this weekend as the lower of the seeded teams is quite something.
But they turned it on against Belfast when it mattered and that will carry them into this final as they look for play-off number four and coach Russell’s first domestically.
Cardiff haven’t win in Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham this season prior to yesterday and while today’s game is officially “neutral”, there could have been a psychological barrier removed.
For Nottingham, winning the play-offs was a regular thing under Corey Neilson and it’s hard to believe it’s nine years since they last skated away with this prize.
Saturday’s game was a draining one for them, mentally and physically as they had to go to overtime to see off the Steelers.
We referred to the redemption arc for both teams and Panthers is much more profound in the aftermath of Adam Johnson’s death 18 months ago.
For many of the neutral fans around Nottingham this weekend, Panthers are the team they’d like to see win on that human level.
Great sporting moments are built on wonderful stories. Is ice hockey in the UK about to have another one?
📆 PLAY-OFF WEEKEND FIXTURES & RESULTS
SATURDAY (All games to be played at Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham)
Semi Finals
Belfast Giants 0 Cardiff Devils 5
Sheffield Steelers 3 Nottingham Panthers 4 (After Overtime)
SUNDAY
Third Place Play Off
Belfast Giants vs Sheffield Steelers (1pm)
Final
Cardiff Devils vs Nottingham Panthers (5pm)
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We’ll be back as usual on Monday at 7am to look back on the final and some reflections on the weekend so have a great Sunday.
Enjoy the game!