A great road performance from Nottingham Panthers saw them take a 4-2 lead from the first leg of the Challenge Cup final in Cardiff.

Bruce Richardson put Panthers ahead in the second period, but the Devils hit back with two goals from Tyler Michel.

Panthers won the game thanks to Marc Levers, Marty Gascon and Danny Meyers.

Panthers coach Corey Neilson told BBC Radio Nottingham: "It was a war out there and I came to battle with a bunch of warriors."

This is Nottingham's sixth appearance in the final in the competition's 13-year history and they have won it twice, in 2003/04 and 2007/08.

"We worked hard and kept our composure and it was a well deserved win," Neilson added.

"We were very strong and we didn't bail out on any hits. We stood up and kept a good account of ourselves, I was proud of them."

The second leg is in Nottingham on Tuesday, 9 March.

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