Panthers take some howl out of the Wolves notching a 4-1 win

The puck moved back to the point and onto the stick of a Westshore Wolves defenceman with just under a minute remaining in the contest between the Wolves and the Peninsula Panthers on a crisp Wednesday evening in Colwood.  The Wolves were down by a couple and with backup goaltender Liam Akins dispatched to the bench in favour of an extra attacker, the home squad was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Panthers in an attempt to draw within a goal.  The defenceman snapped a puck towards Panthers starter, 17-year-old Shawn Parkinson however veteran forward Kai Turner had other ideas.  The third-year "Cat" jumped right into the shot lane where he makes his bread and butter, took a high shot to the upper paraphernalia and then raced after the loose biscuit as it bounced lazily into the neutral zone and out of harm's way.  Turner out-legged the would-be defender and shoved the puck towards the yawning cage.  It bounced off the right post and sat in the blue paint what seemed to be for an eternity before Turner outbattled the Wolves defenceman and tapped in a six incher to make the score 4-1 for the insurance marker. 

Head Coach Brad Tippett turned to his help on the bench, Pete Zubersky and the two exchanged a handshake and a smile.  The Panthers ran off the final 51 seconds on the clock and then it was time to feel good for a squad that had worked hard all night long and were full marks on the win.

The Panthers started slowly once again!  A Wolves forward sped down the left side past the Panthers bench and in on Parkinson.  He was steered to the corner but not before Mitch Moloney was sent to the sin bin for a couple of big minutes.  There were only 0:34 seconds elapsed at the time of the call.  "As our Head Coach sometimes says, we shoot ourselves in the foot and then reload," said Zubersky.  "We have been trying to get going coming out of the dressing room and yet again we do not get off to a good start.  Even in a win there are things that need some work."

One player who was ready early was Parkinson.  He held the Wolves at bay for two minutes until Moloney could join the fray once again and the match settled in.  And at the 3:21 mark of the opening stanza, speedy forward Michael Sproule raced in alone on Wolves starter Jordan Spandli after a pretty setup by linemates Josh Poland and Turner.  Sproule made no mistake in tight which allowed the Panthers to draw first blood with the early 1-0 lead.  It would be a lead they would never give up on the night.

Sixteen-year-old rookie Joe Stafford-Veale was the next to join the party after tapping a puck into the open net with Spandli down and out.  The Moloney-assisted goal came with just over five minutes remaining in the period and it looked like it would give the Panthers some nice momentum moving into the intermission.  But Moloney had a bit more.  On the power play and with only 28 seconds remaining, Moloney gathered in a puck at the point and snapped a shot towards Spandli.  Poland tipped the shot past the startled netminder to give his Club a solid 3-0 lead after twenty minutes were firmly in the books.

The Wolves scored the only marker of the middle stanza when at the 17:38 mark some shoddy backchecking allowed Cameron Coutre a nice scoring opportunity.  Coutre took a pass as he barrelled in on Parkinson and let a shot go from 15 feet out.  The shot beat Parkinson and breathed some life into the Wolves heading to the dressing room after the 2nd chapter was written.

But there would be no comeback on the evening and with Turner sinking the stake into the heart of the Wolves, a happy group entered the Panthers dressing room after the game.  Coach Tippett spoke softly to his troops and once he departed, some Country and Western tunes sifted through the room and out into the hallway. 

Tippett had some interesting comments to share when questioned about his first win in the League.  "It was our closest to a 60 minute effort to date.  What really makes me feel good is we have had three solid efforts in a row.  I thought we deserved a tie in Victoria and the controversial no-goal call versus Kerry Park cost us a win.  We won the special teams battle tonight - a PP goal, a short-handed goal and 100% on the PK.  Shawn was excellent in goal, steady and confident."

The coach continued, "To win consistently your best players have to be your best players and tonight our's were."

The Bench Boss was pleased with his defensive group and made special note of a couple of them.  "Zack Evans and Chase O'Keefe both had their best games to date.  The coaches and his teammates were really happy for Chase as that was his first opportunity to face his former team.  It was great to see Joe Stafford-Veale get rewarded for all his hard work when he notched his first Junior goal tonight."

Tippett shared some thoughts on how his squad could be better.  "Our PP is suffering - mostly attributable to trying to get our basic systems in place.  We are starting to see some of the concepts, tactics and position specific skills we are teaching becoming part of the norm.  We are trying to instil a pro style game which actually makes the game simpler."

Tippett and his men will be looking to add to their point total on Friday night when they once again hit the ice against the Wolves in the back end of the home-and-home series.  The puck will drop in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre at 7:30 pm.