MANCHESTER Storm lost to reigning champions Cardiff Devils on Saturday night but put in a massive performance at the Storm Shelter on Sunday evening to beat big-spending Nottingham Panthers 4-3 in overtime in front of another good crowd.

On Saturday, Mike Hammond scored for Storm to level things up in the first period.

No goals came in the middle period, mainly down to netminder Matt Ginn, who was on top form.

Cardiff went ahead through Gleason Fournier and as Storm chased an equaliser, the Devils wrapped things up through Matt Pope.

Against Nottingham Panthers, who included two ex-NHL players in their side, Ciaran Long and Felix Poulin put Storm 2-0 in front in the second period before Panthers struck back and took a 3-2 lead.

Storm talisman Linden Springer popped up to level the scores and take the game into overtime and captain Dan Byers bagged both game points with a penalty shot to send the crowd home happy.

Byers said: “We have had a tough run over the past few weeks but there is a lot of belief in the squad that we can climb the table and with back-to-back home wins against Sheffield and Nottingham it's looking good.”

Head coach Ryan Finnerty added: “We played well in Cardiff and were unlucky to come away with nothing, but the team showed great character against Nottingham, taking the lead and then fighting back the way we did.

"Linden Springer scoring was a massive plus and it just goes to show what a great player he is, both in attack and defence.”

Storm travel to play Nottingham on Saturday then return to Altrincham to entertain the Fife Flyers on Sunday (5.30pm).