Nottingham Panthers 1 Sheffield Steelers 2 - Valdix and Fretter give Steelers slender lead

Goals from man of the match Andreas Valdix and Colton Fretter ensured a narrow road victory for the visitors, much to the delight of head coach Paul Thompson.

“As a visiting coach you have to be happy with any lead going into the second leg of a series like this against the Panthers,” said Thompson.

“I give Nottingham a lot of credit, they were down a couple of bodies and played a very solid game and made it difficult for us.

“It’s hard to break down a deep 1-4 and you sometimes need something special to break the deadlock, just like Colton did when he took the puck to the paint, it was a super move and great goal for us. It is what you have to do when a team is playing such a defensive game.”

In a keenly-fought contest, however, it was the Panthers who struck first when Brian McGrattan netted after just 90 seconds.

Steelers fought back in the second period, outshooting the Panthers 15-6 and eventually got their reward when Valdix struck at 27.01 with Levi Nelson assisting.

When the winner came it was worth waiting for, Fretter pulling off a stunning solo effort in the 53rd minute.

With second-placed Belfast Giants due in South Yorkshire this weekend for a huge double header against the Steelers, Thompson eased some of his players’ shifts off in the closing stages.

“I shortened the bench in the third period, but i wanted to run our four blocks for as long as possible with the Belfast series in mind,” added Thompson.

“It’s one game at a time, we bank this one tonight and now move on to the Giants. All games are big ones at this time of the year.”