Neilson thrilled to beat Coventry

Neilson was happy to do his talking on the ice.

Nottingham Panthers coach Corey Neilson could not hide his delight after his side thrashed Coventry Blaze 4-0.

The victory was made even sweeter after Blaze enforcer Carlyle Lewis called Neilson a "loser" prior to the match.

"I'm so happy," Neilson told BBC Radio Nottingham, "They're a quality team and we beat them, I was thrilled".

David Clarke scored twice and there was one each for Johan Molin and Brendan Cook as Panthers won at the Skydome for the first time in three years.

Neilson was on the receiving end of criticism from both Lewis and Coventry coach Paul Thompson earlier in the week, but refused to gloat after the emphatic victory.

"I don't want any of my comments to spoil it tomorrow, but I thought we won classy against top opposition."

Netminder Michel Robinson was vital to the win, securing a forty shot shut-out, but he too was keen to downplay his heroics.

"All I try to do every night is just give the guys in front of me a chance to win," Robinson told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"As long as I keep them in the game, I know we'll score goals, fortunately tonight we took the lead and we just kept going with it.

"We knew that this would be a big game for us. We've got to win those games if we want to make a race for the title, so it feels good to come here to Coventry and win," Robinson added.

And Neilson was quick to pay tribute to his defence as a whole.

"The team defence has taken a lot of heat this year, and you know what, I think we showed we're capable.

"They had such great composure on the puck, and that was a key factor for the way we could go forward tonight."