Panthers downed by Braves sniper Nick Guerra

There were early jitters for the Panthers to open their season but when the final buzzer sounded, the difference in a 5-3 loss to the Saanich Braves was the visitors 20-year-old Nick Guerra.  Guerra toiled with the Braves as a young Junior player cutting his teeth in Junior.  He moved up to Junior A in the BCHL for the past couple of seasons however, it appears as though he has come back home for his final year of eligibility.  And he was clearly the difference in the game with four tallies and a helper.

The Panthers trailed 3-2 after twenty minutes were tucked away in the books with Michael Sproule and Josh Poland beating Braves starter Bryce Schiebel, while Guerra put his first three past Panthers' netminder Shawn Parkinson.

The two Clubs exchanged goals in the middle stanza, Braves Carlos Grouchy beating Parkinson from the high slot high on the glove side with the shot of the night while silky-smooth Trevor Owens replied for the home side.

The Panther battled hard in the final frame and it was Owens who came close to notching the equalizer on a couple of different occasions only to be thwarted by Schiebel.  And with only 4:21 remaining in the game, Guerra drove the dagger deep into the heart of the "Cats" when he scored his 4th of the night on a scramble in front of Parkinson.

Parkinson was good on 29 of 34 attempts while in the other end Schiebel was a bit better in picking up the win, blocking 23 of 26 Panthers shots.

Guerra, Owens and Grouchy were all solid choices as the three stars.

"We looked not bad at times and at others we looked young and timid," explained GM Pete Zubersky. "I thought on the back Garnett Roberts played solid but was on for a couple goals when his defensive partners gave up odd man rushes.  We needed more compete, no doubt about that.  Perhaps our best pairing on the night were Shota Yamamoto who is a 16-year-old kid and his partner, 17-year-old Thomas Spink.  The two moved the puck nicely and we expect great things from them."

Up front, Owens was clearly the Panthers best forward and Josh Poland's effort was there all night long.  Some of the other veterans who were expected to deliver more, were invisible at times. 

"With a lot of young kids we expect that the vets will rise to the occasion and that did not happen with a few of the guys," explained Zubersky.  "Some of the forwards had nervous feet and when they lost the puck, they also lost some of their compete.  It's expected at this point but I don't think this will take too long.  I believe we have some talent and we can skate, we just have to find more 'will' every shift."

The Panthers face off in Saanich tonight at 5:30 pm and will return back to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre next Friday night when they play host to the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings.