![]() However, Panthers weren’t ready to lie down yet and goals from Mark Derlago started the flow. It was a bleak first period break where one wondered if yet another comeback was really possible. Again, Panthers started slow and conceded two power play goals to Belfast, gifting them a 0-2 lead after twenty minutes and going 3-6 behind on aggregate. The return leg was one of the most tense and exciting games of the season. David Clarke started the comeback seconds before the end of the first buzzer and clawed it back to 3-4 going into the home leg two days later. Once again, Panthers started slow and went down 0-3 in the first period with Patrick Galbraith in net. The first leg was in Belfast on Friday 30 March. It was predicted to be the closest quarter final of the four, which did not disappoint, plus Nottingham had some pride to restore after Belfast knocked them out of the Challenge Cup only a few months earlier. The Belfast Giants finished fifth, so Panthers faced them in the quarter finals of the Playoffs. Panthers upped their game eventually, but waited until the third period to score two quick goals (Jeff Brown and Raphael Bussieres) to clinch a final win 4-3, fourth place in the league and a sigh of relief. Their opposition, Edinburgh had only won five games out of 56 this season, but took an early lead over Panthers 2-0 at the end of the first period. Panthers were poised to win their third game in three nights in Scotland to take third or fourth place. Sheffield comfortably beat the Manchester Storm in Altrincham as the Storm had little to play for and Steelers bagged third place over Nottingham. The last weekend of the season was an exciting finish with only first, second and eighth place secured in the league table and all others jostling for positions in the very last match, to try and get a better play-off seeding. Nottingham have finished a disappointing fourth or fifth in the league for the last five years, a sad decline since winning the league, Challenge Cup and Playoffs in 2012/13. The points were so close between third and seventh place that Nottingham and Sheffield actually finished on identical points, but the latter had seven more wins in regulation time. Manchester had a great season under coach Ryan Finnerty’s guidance, only their third season back in the Elite League and they finished second, four points above the Sheffield Steelers. Nottingham finished fourth in the Elite League and Cardiff took the prized champions’ trophy, both in exactly the same position as last year. Likewise, the ending is an anticlimax for David Clarke, Panthers player and legend, who has retired. He is still the most successful ever Panthers coach – winning fourteen trophies over his twelve years in charge – but it was a drab end to his last ever season. That form did not return in any consistent way and it was certainly not the hoped-for fairytale ending comeback to showcase the reign of Corey Neilson. This season was frustrating as the players demonstrated the skill and ability to do better when they exceeded expectations in the European Champions Hockey League in September.
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