Dynamic Panthers power on

TWO power-packed performances, plus a near-perfect goaltending display from Michel Robinson, saw Nottingham Panthers storm to this coming weekend's Elite League Play-off Finals and a last-four showdown with Coventry Blaze.

Panthers were simply relentless against Manchester Phoenix, following up a handy 6-3 first leg win on Saturday with a 3-2 success in Altrincham last night to qualify 9-5 on aggregate.

And, quite frankly, the scorelines flattered Manchester, who were gift-wrapped their goals on Saturday while last night, Robinson misgloved the Phoenix opener and couldn't do much about their late second.

But in between those goals, he looked as solid as a rock whenever Manchester threatened, which augurs well for the second semi-final at the National Ice Centre on Saturday (5pm) against the Blaze.

The meeting will no doubt rekindle a war of words between the coaches, as there is certainly plenty of history between the sides.

However, if Panthers play as well as they did to dispose of a battling Manchester outfit, they should go through to Sunday's final and a meeting with either league champions Sheffield or the in-form Cardiff Devils, who meet in the first semi-final (1pm).

In an electric atmosphere last night, with around 400 noisy Panthers fans making the journey north, Manchester had to open up and attack in a bid to claw back that three-goal deficit.

Credit to both sides, though, for making the first period so compelling, despite picky referee Tom Darnell ensuring little over five minutes were played with both sides at full strength as he sent a procession of players to the penalty box.

Both Robinson and Stephen Murphy had to be sharp to keep their goals intact and though Phoenix were adjudged to have outshot Panthers in that opening session, many of their attempts were just lay-ups to the netminder.

So it was against the run of play when Josh Garbutt broke clear down the left and whipped in a shot which Robinson seemed to have covered but allowed to bobble out of his glove and into the net (17.58).

Panthers came out for the second swarming all over the Phoenix defence and after Murphy pulled off a fine stop from Jade Galbraith, the goalie then went to field the puck behind his net but only succeeded it deflecting back into open play for David Clarke to gratefully accept the equaliser (25.56).

The pressure from the visitors was unrelenting now, with only Murphy keeping Phoenix in it. But Panthers had to see off a couple of penalties before Matthew Myers calmly slipped in their second through the goalie's legs (3058).

That left Phoenix needing to score five times to win. But even with the league's top goalscorer David Beauregard and ace playmaker Tony Hand, that was a massive ask.

And with Robinson in such good form, it laid the platform for an exquisite third Panthers' goal, rocketed in first time by Brendan Cook, with Myers and Galbraith the helpers.

With just over six minutes remaining, Nathan Ward managed to get a second past Robinson when the puck deflected into his path, but that was the final response from a tired team looking down and out.

It was clear Manchester's extra games in the last two weeks had taken their toll. But the previous night, they still managed to haul themselves back to 3-3 after Panthers took a 3-1 lead.

Thankfully, Panthers kept their cool to seal victory with a storming third period of three goals

Clarke opened the scoring with less than two minutes gone.

But Panthers were caught napping on the power-play, and though Robinson beat out Beauregard's shot, Hand was following up to equalise (6.38).

Panthers were back in front again (7.57) when man-of-the-match Dan Tessier tricked his way into the Manchester zone and Johan Molin was on hand for a far-post tap-in.

Robinson made a good stop from Beauregard, but the visitors' power-play was stopped when the effervescent Cook stole the puck near half-way and scorched past two defenders before turning Murphy inside out to back-hand the goal of the night (13.36).

But Panthers were made to pay for missed chances in the last minute of the period when Luke Fulghum was left in space to finish clinically to make it 3-2.

And when Panthers were left killing five successive penalties at the start of the middle session Phoenix finally broke their resistance to level it up (37.40) through Beauregard. Four minutes into the final period, though, Cook tipped in Nick Toney's shot for Panthers to regain the lead and from then on, there was only one team in it.

The fifth came when Murphy found Danny Meyers' shot too hot to handle and Tessier prodded home (52.46) and then the French-Canadian sealed victory with his second, courtesy of a neat reverse pass from Myers