Panthers draw first blood shutting out the Wolves 3-0 Monday night

Peninsula Panthers Goaltender Alex Olson made the short drive from his billet home to the Panorama Recreation Centre and arrived approximately two hours before the puck was set to drop.  There was not that much different on Monday night for Olson as compared to the past several months during the regular season, but Olson and his mates knew that it was different on this evening.  They were opening their Best-of-7 series against the Westshore Wolves in a series that just about everyone expects will go quite a distance before a winner comes through the other end of the tunnel.  Olson changed into his warm-up gear and then meandered up to the office and grabbed some tape and then completed his usual pre-game routine right up until 7:30 pm when the puck is usually set to drop.  On this night, there was a bit of a mix up with the Westshore Wolves jerseys and the game was delayed 20 minutes as players for both squads waited for their arrival.

When the puck did drop, the Wolves seemed to have just a bit more jump and carried the play for the first several minutes, however the Panthers quickly came around and both teams raced up and down the ice.  At the 7:45 mark, Trevor Owens checked a Wolves player while the visitors were on the power play and he raced into the Wolves zone down the left side.  From the slot, Owens let fly with a hard snap shot and the disk ripped past Wolves starter Chris Smith to give the Panthers the early lead. 

"That goal gave us a real lift," explained Pete Zubersky.  "Ben Meyerink had been whistled for interference and we were doing a nice job killing off the penalty, but when Owens put us in the lead with the opening goal of the series, I believe it gave everyone a spark on the bench."  There would be no more scoring in the first stanza as Smith and Panthers starter Alex Olson were both solid.

At the 16:30 mark of the 2nd frame the Panthers took a 2-0 lead when Justin Post knocked in a one-timer off a pass from VIJHL Rookie of the Year Cam Thompson.  Panthers Captain Spencer Loverock was awarded with the 2nd helper.  The goal was a bit lucky as Thompson seemed to fan on his pass to Post however, the puck arrived in good time and Post made no mistake in beating Smith.  Thompson had an excellent chance only seconds later when he walked off the half wall, beat a Wolves defender and with Smith down and the wide open net looking at him, the 17-year-old sniper back-handed a shot just wide.  The Clubs exchanged some chances however, after 40 minutes were in the books the Panthers lead held at 2-0.

The 3rd frame treated the Panthers very nicely early.  With only 17 ticks having been removed from the clock, 17-year-old Braeden Hansen made a nifty play moving the puck up the left side.  Ben Dawson and Josh Poland did the rest of the work, getting the puck through the neutral zone and into the Wolves end and then a pass found Kai Turner who was just arriving in front of the Wolves stopper.  Turner tipped the puck past Smith in what might have just been the biggest goal of the game.  The Wolves challenged late however, Olson made several spectacular saves leaving the Wolves group shaking their heads.  Both Clubs watched the minutes tick away and when the final buzzer sounded, it would in fact be Olson and his mates who would walk away with a critical 3-0 win.

Olson blocked all 29 shots he faced and was named the 1st star of the game.  Owens, who scored the winner early in the game and Ty Hermsen, who played his penalty killing and physical role to perfection, were the 2nd and 3rd stars respectively.

"I really enjoyed the compete level of our kids tonight," said Head Coach Rob "Bombay" Mortin.  "We know we are going to be in for a dog fight in this series and nothing will be given to us.  We expect a tough game every single time we lace them up against these guys, they have a lot of talent."

The Panthers travel to the Q-Centre for Game 2 on Wednesday night and will be right back at the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday evening when they will play host to the Wolves for Game 3.  A large crowd is expected.