Kowalski relief at first Nottingham Panthers shut-out

Kowalski spent last season playing in Italy

Nottingham Panthers netminder Craig Kowalski says he is relieved following his first shut-out for the club.

Panthers beat Hull 5-0 on Tuesday to give Kowalski his first clean sheet since moving from Italy in the summer.

Kowalski told BBC Radio Nottingham: "It was nice to get one, especially after the way we started giving up goals.

"At the beginning of the year I wanted to get off to a good start but it just didn't happen. Now I'm settled and more comfortable with our style of play."

David-Alexandre Beauregard, Jonathan Zion, David Clarke, Robert Lachowicz and Billy Ryan were all on target, as Panthers stretched their Elite League winning run to seven games.

"It is great here, how you can beat playing in front of five to seven thousand fans a game? You just can't beat that," added Kowalski.

"The city is nice and I have a great place to live, and I have a great room mate in David [Alexandre-Beauregard]."

The downside for the Panthers was a checking-to-the-head match penalty for defenceman Guy Lepine, who is set to receive another ban from the Elite League.