Braves rain on Panthers parade, end winning streak at 7 games

The Peninsula Panthers opened the 2015/16 season at home a way back on September 4th pounding the Saanich Braves in a workmanlike effort and they were full value for the win.  The following night the same group cruised into Saanich looking for their 2nd win in as many nights, facing the Braves once again in the back end of a home-and-home series.  But a different Braves team showed up on that night and they bullied and intimidated a young Panthers squad, eventually beating them soundly in all aspects of the game by a 4-0 count.  The squad struggled for the next twenty or so games coming out of that loss and at one point in their season owned record was 6 wins, 14 losses, 1 overtime loss and 1 tie.  The date was November 11th.  The somewhat lacking win/loss record was right before an afternoon game at the Panorama Recreation Centre on a rainy November 11th Remembrance Day.  But the group had once again made themselves a factor in VIJHL South Division standings having reeled off a number of wins over the past month to move their record to .500 going into the contest on Friday.  And like back in September, they were looking to go North of that mark for the first time since opening night.  It was not to be.

A young and confident group arrived at the George Pearkes Arena on Friday afternoon, a couple hours ahead of the scheduled 6:30 pm start between the Saanich Braves and the Peninsula Panthers.  The "Cats" had been on a bit of a roll heading into the contest having won seven games in a row and nine of their last ten, however they were still hungry and wanted to eat.  Going into the game the Panthers were only trailing the Westshore Wolves by a single point in the chase for 2nd place in the VIJHL South Division after dispatching them two days earlier at the Q Centre in a high scoring affair.  But the squad were also wary of the Kerry Park Islanders who have a veteran laden Club and were only three points in arears of them.  The Braves on the other hand had struggled as of late and were looking to rebound and get back into the win column. 

In such a big game the boys from the Peninsula did not lose perspective, that development trumps winning.  And with that philosophy in mind 16-year-old Shawn Parkinson got the start between the pipes.  Going into the contest the lanky stopper had gone a lofty 128:56 minutes without allowing a goal and was looking to build on the impressive number.  Parkinson would stretch the total to 140:34 before a defensive miscue would end his party at the 11:38 mark of the 1st stanza when Jack Rachwalski would beat him with a lazer shot to the top of the cage.  It would be a sign of things to come for the Panthers on a night that simply did not go their way.

The ice was greased and at just a couple minutes past 6:30 pm the two teams arrived at centre ice.  The Panthers had looked sharp in the 15-minute warmup and there was plenty of jump within the group.  The puck was dropped and the usual sounds of the game started up as usual.  And the Club took the play to the Braves in the first twenty minutes but Rachwalski would prove to be the only marksman in the period.  Riley Mathieson made the start for the Braves and made some monster saves to keep the "Cats" off the scoresheet.  A miscue changed the momentum.  A pinching Panthers defenceman allowed newly acquired Braves forward Brendan Werstine to chip the puck off the wall from his blueline and speed down the right side through the neutral zone on a 3-on-1 jail break.  A Braves forward sped towards Parkinson keeping the Panthers other defenceman off  Werstine and then just inside the Panthers blueline Werstine dropped a pass to the trailing Rachwalski.  The Braves Captain cruised right down Main Street and from 15 feet out ripped a high shot past Parkinson to end the young goaltenders scoreless streak.

The Panthers were the better Club for the first 20 minutes, albeit, they trailed, but they seemed to regroup during the first intermission.  And when the 2nd period opened they poured into the Braves end of the ice and had two great chances on Mathieson right off the bat., however somehow did not manage to light the lamp.  A Brave grabed a loose puck to the side of Mathieson on a rebound and ripped a long pass to a streaking Werstine who had snuck in behind two Panthers defenceman.  Werstine picked up the disk just outside the Panthers blueline and raced in alone on an unprotected Parkinson.  He made no mistake depositing the puck behind the rookie stopper to give the Braves a 2-0 lead with only 26 seconds having been played.  And then only two minutes later disaster would strike again.  Evan Horvath gathered in a rebound after a stop from Parkinson and quickly snapped it by the goaltender who had gone down on the play to launch the home Club to a commanding 3-0 lead.

At this point Parkinson was yanked in favour of veteran Alex Olson.  "We made the move to try and change the flow of the game," said Pete Zubersky.  "The Braves had it going all their way and we had to try and stem the flow.  When Parky came to the bench I told him that he had not played badly and that sometimes the goaltender takes it on the chin for the team in a situation like this.  Shawn totally understood and said that perhaps was not his night.  He has a great attitude and is a team player in every way.  The call to make the change was only to try and change the momentum, nothing to do with his performance."

The play went back and forth and the bounces continued to go the Braves way for the remainded of the 2nd period.  They would add two more goals on markers by Nick Kean at the 7:25 mark and a late goal at 19:06 by Connor Birmingham to take a 5-0 lead after two periods were in the books.

Parkinson was put back between the pipes after the 2nd intermission.  Michael Sproule broke the shutout at the 5:10 mark of the final period when he came off the half wall, romped into the slot and burried a snap shot over Matheison's glove hand.  Koby Hale and Ben Dawson were awarded helpers on the play.  Sproule was clearly the best Panthers player on the night, one of the Panthers to show energy and effort.

Parkinson and Olson combined to block 23 of 28 attempts while Mathieson was good on 25 of 26 shots and picked up the win.  Parkinson was collared with the loss.  Three Braves in Werstine, Scott Henderson and Taylor Leger were named stars on the night.

"We will have to be better on Sunday, said Zubersky.  "It simply did not go our way.  We will have to move the puck a bit more.  I saw that when things did not go our way some of the guys did not want to move the puck.  There is absolutely no way we can be successful at this level without moving the puck.  We want players to move to the next level and passing is one of the things that scouts focus on.  Our effort will be back Sunday, I'm sure of that."

The Panthers have one more game remaining before the Christmas break and will head up Island on Sunday to face the Nanaimo Buccaneers.  The Club is back home on Wednesday, December 30th to take on the Kerry Park Islanders.