Corey Neilson revealed stern words with Chris Lawrence helped get the best out of the Nottingham Panthers centre as he delivered massively in the dramatic Christmas wins over Sheffield Steelers.
Lawrence scored an empty netter in the 4-0 success in Yorkshire on Boxing Day before following that up with two goals in the 3-2 home victory a day later, including the winner 38 seconds into overtime to take his tally to 17 for the season.
Head coach Neilson said: "That kid is sensational, the stuff he can do with the puck – he's got the hands and is the complete package.
"Over the last few weeks he's put it together. We had a sit down with him and said 'you've got to be better, got to get into shape'.
"He's a kid who's a bit aloof but he's also a competitor. You see that if you get on the wrong side of him on the ice."
Neilson praised the work of all of his players against Elite League leaders Sheffield as they recovered brilliantly from three straight defeats and the loss of captain David Clarke through injury for the rest of the season.
The victories mean Panthers are still fifth, but only six points separate the top five and they have a game in hand on the Steelers.
"We got rewarded for hard work on Saturday. On Boxing Day we put the work in as well," he said. "We were disciplined and did good things. Sheffield came out with a different look in the second game. We had to adjust.
"It sounds like a chess match but you need your players to be dedicated to the system and they were awesome."
Panthers were beginning to look dead and buried with two minutes left at the National Ice Centre, trailing 2-1 having struggled to test Steelers netminder Frank Doyle in the third period.
But then defenceman Charles Landry scored a blistering equaliser with 83 seconds to go.
"I was planning for pulling the goalie. I was real close before the goal went in," said Neilson.
"You have to believe in what you have. Charles is a real competitor. The kid slashes people in practice and almost gets into a fight every day.
"He wants to win every scenario he's in and I love that about him. We have guys like that who feed off his energy."
Panthers were once again without goaltender Craig Kowalski and Clarke at the National Ice Centre.
There was a boost for the hosts with the sight of centre Bruce Graham on the ice despite having hobbled out at the Motorpoint Arena.
Graham's presence made little difference in the early going as Steelers raced into a two-goal lead.
A Panthers clearance around the boards only found an opposition defenceman in space and the puck was worked to Colton Fretter at the back post to beat man of the match Mattias Modig after 3.43.
Cody Wild could have drawn the hosts level straight after following good passing by Brandon Benedict, but Wild did not work Doyle.
Sheffield were more ruthless after 6.00 when Rob Dowd fired a fierce slapshot over Modig's glove and into the top corner to make it 2-0.
A scramble at the other end followed but a brilliant piece of defending kept Panthers at bay.
They were much improved in the second period as they halved the deficit after a bad break gifted Jeff Legue a breakaway on Modig, but he made a momentum changing save.
It was 2-1 after 25.55 when Mike Berube's shot was saved with the pads and Lawrence showed tremendous strength to hold off the defence and roof the loose puck.
Doyle then matched Modig with an equally important stop as Graham brought down a lob pass but was denied by a tremendous sprawling save.
Panthers needed a big push in the final period but for spells Sheffield looked the more likely to seal the points. Mathieu Roy deflected a shot just wide before Mike Forney failed to control a big chance in front and then Modig saved well from a Tyler Mosienko wraparound.
Panthers looked in desperate need of inspiration as the clock wound down and they found it from the unlikely source of Landry, who drilled in a fierce shot to wild celebrations.
A pressure cooker atmosphere followed as Panthers looked for the win.
Overtime bizarrely started as five v four but it mattered not as Lawrence smashed in his 17th of the season to stun the Steelers.
PANTHERS 3 STEELERS 2 (OT)
0-2, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0
Scorers
Panthers: Lawrence 2+0, Landry 1+0, Farmer 0+3, Lachowicz 0+1, Berube 0+1, Wild 0+1
Steelers: Fretter 1+0, Dowd 1+0, Roy 0+1, O'Connor 0+1, Hay 0+1, Legue 0+1
Shots on goal
Panthers: 9+11+7+1=28
Steelers: 13+12+9+0=34
Penalties
Panthers: 8+4+2=14
Steelers: 10+6+4=20
Attendance: 7,130
