Elite League: Nottingham through in Challenge Cup, Fife defeat Manchester

Nottingham Panthers have progressed into the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup after a 7-4 aggregate win over Milton Keynes Lightning.

The Panthers needed to overcome a 2-1 first-leg defeat and it took just four minutes and 11 seconds for Zack Phillips to open the scoring on the powerplay.

It was in the second period where Nottingham turned the screw on Milton Keynes though with Evan Mosey, Mark Derlago, Jeff Brown and David Clarke all scoring. Evan Stoflet scored Milton Keynes only goal of the game after 03:36 of the second period.

Raphael Bussieres put the icing on the cake late in the third period as Nottingham eased through with an impressive second-leg victory.

In the only league game of the night, Fife Flyers defeated Manchester Storm 6-2 to maintain the pressure on the top three.

Fife’s powerplay struck five times, with Ricards Birzins and Carlo Finucci scoring in the first period. Evan Bloodoff’s goal after 11:53 was the Flyers only even-strength goal of the evening.

The lead stretched to five goals in the second period through tallies from Peter LeBlanc and Ian Young.

Scott Pitt pulled a goal back shorthanded at the start of the first period before Shayne Stockton restored the five-goal lead. Andrew McKinney notched Manchester’s second after 12:18 of the third period.

The win puts Fife just one point behind third-placed Sheffield Steelers with five games in hand.