By Luke McGinnis
Nottingham came close to opening the scoring early, with Bryan Lemos tipping a shot past Emil Kruse at 04:25. However, Stars captain Drydn Dow was able to clear the puck off the goal line, denying the home side an early lead.
Matt Marcinew got the Panthers on the board first, driving the net to beat Kruse on the powerplay at 08:41. A referee-initiated video review followed to determine whether there had been goaltender interference on the play, however, the call on the ice stood.
Kris Inglis levelled the score at 11:05, picking up a behind-the-net feed from Craig Garrigan and beating Kevin Carr with a tight-angle shot for his first goal of the regular season.
Tim Doherty restored the one-goal lead for Nottingham late in the first period, firing home a rebound at 19:07 after Kruse had made the initial save on David Noël.
Nolan Volcan made it 3-1 at 37:29, redirecting a shot by Jakob Stridsberg into the Stars’ net.
Just as it seemed the score would remain heading into the second intermission, Ross Armour added a fourth at 39:27. Kruse made a stop on a shot from the blue line by Zsombor Garat, but Armour was first to the rebound to make it 4-1.
The Panthers scored the lone goal of the third period at 49:31, with Noël capitalising on extended pressure in the Stars’ zone and firing a rebound home after Kruse had made a big pad save on Oliver Betteridge.
