Storm top Panthers 6-3 on Friday night

The Peninsula Panthers were knocked off by the visiting Campbell River Storm 6-3 on a rainy Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre in North Saanich, B.C. however, they will not have to wait very long to try and gain some revenge against the same Storm Club.  The two teams go at it once again this Sunday in Campbell River with the puck set to drop at 4:00 pm.

The Storm, who were coming off a sound beating at the hands of the Victoria Cougars, came out of the chutes fast and hard.  "We knew they were going to be hungry coming in," said Head Coach Rob Mortin.  "We discussed this but I still believe our guys were not ready for the onslaught."

After both teams played a pretty solid opening five minutes, it was Storm's Gage Colpron who opened the scoring at the 5:43 mark.  And only 29 seconds later, the visitors struck once again, this time on a questionable goal awarded to Brett Witala.  Panthers' Goaltender had the puck under his pads on the Witala shot however, the Storm celebrated as if the puck had found the back of the net.  A goal was awarded on the shot however, it took two minutes of conversation between the three officials doing the game and the result was a 2-0 lead.  "The shot never went in," explained Pete Zubersky.  "It actually was not even close.  All our guys came to the bench and were quite upset that it had been called a goal.  It's too bad and it gave them a ton of momentum."

The Storm struck quickly on another marker only 1:43 later when Alex Rosolwsky hit pay dirt.  Both Olson and Storm Goaltender Andy Gilker were solid the rest of the period and as the two Clubs went into the intermission, the Storm held a convincing 3-0 lead.

Both teams exchanged chances in the 2nd frame but the Storm would strike again when at the 12:31 mark, crafty forward Colin Blake slipped a shot past Olson.  And it looked like it would remain that way after 40 minutes but with only 28 seconds left in the period, Panthers' left winger Ben Meyerink moved out of his own end and hit a streaking Michael Neale who was steaming down the right side.  Neale blasted a low shot onto the right pad of Gilker, and a fat rebound came out right onto the stick of Panthers' offensive defenceman Ryan Warner.  Warner made no mistake pounding the puck into a wide open cage from five feet out.

The home "Cats" wasted no time getting it going in the final frame as Kai Turner beat the Storm goaltender only 17 ticks in.  And at the 2:47 mark and on the power play, rugged winger Michael Sproule picked up a loose puck in the low slot and pounded it past Gilker to make it a 4-3 game.  Storm Head Coach/GM Lee Stone called a timeout to settle down his Club and the move paid immediate dividends.  At the 3:09 mark Colpron tallied for the second time on the evening - a goal that stopped the Panthers' onslaught.  There was no further scoring until with only 40 seconds remaining in the game and the Panthers trying to go on the offence, Storms' Christian Brandt beat Olson to crush any hopes of a comeback.

Blake, Meyerink and Gilker were named the contest's 3 stars.  Olson blocked 27 of 33 Storm shots while Gilker was good on 18 of 21 attempts in picking up the win.

The Panthers head to Campbell River on Sunday afternoon for the back end of the home-and-home series and will be right back at the Panorama Recreation Centre this coming Wednesday, November 11th for a 1:30 pm start.  There will be a ceremony to remember the fallen veterans who have helped to maintain our freedom.