Neilson's side have struggled for consistency this season

Nottingham Panthers player-coach Corey Neilson said his side paid the price for slack defending after seeing them slip to third spot in the Elite League.

Panthers smashed arch rivals Sheffield Steelers 6-3 on Saturday but were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle on Sunday - their fifth consecutive away defeat.

And Neilson said Sunday's defeat was simply down to poor defence.

"We made two monumental blunders on defence and they scored two goals," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"That was the difference, they never made that big mistake."

Matus Petricko set Newcastle on their way early on only for Panthers to hit back through Sean McAslan.

But the home side made it 2-1 in the second period through a penalty strike by Mike Berry.

And despite Panthers outshooting their hosts 32-21, Vipers closed out the final period to win the game and claim maximum points.

Neilson added: "It was always going to be a one-goal affair. Both teams were very tight defensively.

"There weren't a whole lot of opportunities to score, I thought maybe we had the better part of them and maybe we did.

"It's back to the drawing board but I can't really fault their effort.

"I'm not satisfied with losing but the guys worked very hard and for whatever reason it didn't go in tonight.

"Michel Robinson [Vipers keeper] was spectacular. He is the best goalie in the league right now. There are a lot of great goalies but every time he plays against us, he's incredible."

On Saturday at the National Ice Centre, Nottingham saw off Sheffield 6-3.

David Clarke fired Nottingham ahead and Ross Dalgleish was also on target but Sheffield twice levelled through Matt Hubbauer and Brad Cruikshank.

However a spectacular second period run saw Panthers race into a telling 5-2 lead thanks to goals from Danny Meyers, Jade Galbraith and Bruce Richardson.

David Clarke added his second of the night in the final period to make it 6-2 and Hubbauer also claimed his second goal to complete the scoring.

You can now subscribe to BBC Radio Nottingham's Nottingham Panthers podcast for exclusive news and behind-the-scenes access to the players and characters at the club.

This weekly free download is presented by Chris Ellis, published every Thursday during the season and compiled from Panthers Powerplay bulletins on BBC Radio Nottingham.

For further details see:

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version