Panthers close - but no cigar!

Nineteen-year-old Panthers defenceman Mitch Moloney gathered in a puck near his own blueline 11:41 into the 2nd stanza and it looked like he might try and go on an end-to-end rush.  The Panthers were trailing the visiting Victoria Cougars 5-3 however, only a minute earlier Michael Sproule had brought the Panthers within two and the momentum seemed to be turning.  As Moloney looked like he was about to take off, 17-year-old team mate, rookie Carson Cox had another idea.  Cox was enjoying his finest Junior game in his youthful career and was still in search of his first VIJHL marker when he noticed a patch of white ice in behind the Cougars defence.  Cox wheeled into the open at the visitors blueline and Moloney spotted the speedy left winger and then neatly threaded a seeing eye pass onto his stick.  Cox broke in alone on Cougars netminder Justin Anderson and made no mistake snapping one past the stopper to make it a 5-4 game.  That was as close as the Panthers would get.

"I thought Mitch's pass was the best one we have seen all season long in any game," said Panthers Governor Pete Zubersky.  "And Coxy looked like a goal-scorer on the shot, it was a pretty play no doubt about that, and one that really seemed to give us the momentum."

And it appeared as though there might just be more when Cougars Akila Sato-Gaudreau was sent to the sin bin at the 15:39 mark sending the Panthers to the power play.  "I thought the ensuing two minutes changed the entire complexion of the game," stated Zubersky.  "We went on the power play and guys stayed out too long.  At one point late in the our man-advantage, the Cougars iced the puck and we did not have enough gas to skate back and get it.  The change happened at the wrong time and we ended up getting caught in our end and took a penalty because of it.  The Cougars have a great PP and when they scored, it put us in a hole we could not dig out of.  Our coach stresses for players to just do their job - nothing more, nothing less.  Try to do too much and you hurt the team.  That's what happened in his game and it cost two points.  It was disappointing for everyone."

The other Panthers scorers were rookie, 16-year-old Joe Stafford-Veale and Ty Hermsen.  Shawn Parkinson made 27 saves on the 34 shots directed his way and was collared for the loss.

"I thought that some of our defence played much better last night," said Zubersky.  "Garnett Roberts had a good game and I thought that Chase O'Keefe played his best game since arriving here a couple weeks ago from Westshore.  The rookies are all contributing on the back end and get better each time out.  We have to be patient and it is not a question of if it will all come together, but when."

The Club has a week off of game action and will get back at it next Friday night when the Oceanside Generals are set to invade the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm.