SHEFFIELD STEELERS coach Aaron Fox felt his team deserved more as they went down 3-2 through conceding two late goals against Nottingham Panthers in the Challenge Cup.
The results saw the Panthers replace the Steelers at the top of the Group A rankings ahead of Sunday’s action.
The Steelers host Guildford Flames (4pm), while the Panthers - one point better off than their arch-rivals but having played a game more - travel to Coventry Blaze.
After a keenly-fought but goalless first period it was the visitors who broke the deadlock shortly before the halfway mark when Sean Collins tipped in Logan Roe’s shot from distance past Mat Robson at 28.11.
The Panthers were level shortly before the second intermission, however, when Chase Pearson found Tim Doherty, who beat Matt Greenfield high with just 81 seconds remaining before the buzzer.
Roe made it a good night personally when he joined the play late to fire past Robson from the point and restore the Steelers’ lead at 46.16.
It looked like it might be enough to put further distance between the Steelers and their hosts in the group standings, but a rebound from Greenfield’s initial save from Pearson eventually fell to Zsombor Garát who levelled at 54.48.
A high sticking call on Roe with just over three minutes remaining, however, handed the Panthers a crucial advantage.
And it was one they took willingly, the power play 78 seconds in when Zach O'Brien’s effort ricocheted kindly off Steelers’ Tim Gettinger and into the path of Ben Corbeil, who beat Greenfield at 57.58.
“That was a good tight hockey game for 60 minutes or so,” said Steelers’ head coach, Fox.
“It was a 2-1 game going into the last six or seven minutes of the game and we lost two battles - the first one in the neutral zone and then at the net.
“And then the same thing on the PK, we just lost a net-front battle - both their goals came around the net and I would like to see us close that game out a little cleaner.
“To get nothing out of it tonight is obviously a little disappointing. We had some opportunities in transition where we didn’t take advantage and I thought both teams defended hard and competed well in what was a physical game.
“It was just one of those nights where I felt we deserved better than what we got.”