SC Bern got off to a winning start with a comfortable, yet closer than expected, victory over the Nottingham Panthers.

Early penalty trouble put the Panthers on the back foot within the opening minutes, and they were made to pay - 3:41 on the board when Simon Moser opened the scoring with his tip on a shot from the blueline. Under two minutes later the Panthers were in more trouble. With Erik Linghagen in the box, Moser was left unmarked at the back post to double the lead.

Having held out for the rest of the first period, Nottingham got themselves back into the game at the beginning of the next. Joshua Shalla was the lucky recipient of a rebound in front to slot home with slightly over a minute played. The Panthers' joy was however short-lived as Gaetan Haas made it 3-1 with a nice wrist shot just past the 24 miunte mark. Dario Meyer and Alain Berger added further goals for the hosts to put them 5-1 up, before Shall added another for the Panthers to get them back to 5-2 down after 40 minutes.

No goals in the final period saw Bern hold on to the 5-2 win - one that was expected, but perhaps closer than some would have guessed.