Neilson furious despite victory

Neilson's side are top of the Elite League table

Nottingham Panthers coach Corey Neilson slammed his side despite a 4-3 victory over Newcastle which puts them top of the Elite League.

Jade Galbraith scored twice for the Panthers and there were one each for Neilson and David Clarke, the winning goal coming with just 14 seconds left.

Neilson told BBC Radio Nottingham: "I'm furious, I just don't think we were very good, I think we were terrible.

"There were bad mistakes everywhere and a lot of selfish plays with the puck."

Panthers were behind after 23 seconds when Matic Kralj scored, but they hit back with three unanswered goals.

Neilson netted on the powerplay after a neat interchange of passing with Galbraith, and 27 seconds later Clarke scored his first goal of the season.

Galbraith's powerplay goal early in the third looked to be enough, but Vipers hit back with two more goals with a man advantage from first Todd Griffith, and then Kralj's second of the night with just 55 seconds remaining.

There was still time for a dramatic finish though. With David Longstaff in the box for tripping, Clarke set up Galbraith to shoot past his former team-mate Michel Robinson with just 14 seconds left on the clock.

Neilson added: "There were defencemen pinching and forwards not covering. It was just stuff I am not used to seeing from this team and I'm not happy at all.

"It takes a good performance to win but we were average, very average."

Panthers are on-the-road on Sunday afternoon when they take on Edinburgh Capitals, who won 9-2 in Hull on Saturday night.