Panthers get 4-3 home win on late goal by Brown

"The first period was our best start of the season and ultimately the best 20 minutes of the season.  Coincidently it was also the first time all season that we iced close to a healthy roster."  And with that quote Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations quickly summed up a great first stanza of VIJHL action at the Panorama Recreation Centre between his Peninsula Panthers and the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings.

Holden Cochrane opened the scoring for the Panthers at the 7:40 mark when he skated from the wall towards Glacier Kings Goaltender William Cawthorn and made no mistake in beating him high to the glove side.  Veteran Kai Turner was awarded a helper on the play.  And then lightning struck at the 15:23 mark.  A Glacier Kings player tried to clear the zone however Panthers defenceman Chase O'Keefe intercepted the errant pass and walked right down main street before snapping a shot past the startled Cawthorn.  It would prove to be O'Keefe's first VIJHL goal ever and it could not have come at a better time.  The Kings battled back and on snuck one past Panthers starter Shawn Parkinson only 16 seconds later, a goal that strangely enough did not take any energy out of the arena.  Just two minutes later veteran converted forward Josh Poland intercepted yet another clearing pass and he let a shot go that resembled former Toronto Blue Jays thrower R.A. Dickie.  The puck knuckled towards Cawthorn and then took a significant dip to fool the tender once again.  Drew Coughlin and Marshall Brown were awarded helpers on the goal, a marker that would ultimately send Cawthorne to the showers in favour of back up Zak Myrowich.

The Glacier Kings scored the lone marker in the middle frame when at the 15:19 mark Mateo Giomo solved Parkinson to make it a one goal game.

The Panthers looked like they may escape with a 3-2 win however at the 16:04 mark the Hockey God frowned once again on the home squad.  A puck fluttered through the slot and Panthers Trevor Owens was there to put a glove on it to clear it out of harms way.  The puck however bounced from his glove off Owens knee and then right between the wickets of Parkinson and to the back of the cage to knot the game at 3-3.

The Panthers were awarded a late power play and with only 16 seconds remaining Drew Coughlin gathered in a puck on the half wall and moved it back to the point to Shota Yamamoto.  The youngster snapped a puck towards the Glacier Kings goal however it went wide and bounced off the end wall.  Owens stick was tied up however he managed to kick the puck in front to Brown who snapped in the winner, his 6th tally in only nine games.  The Panthers celebrated and then only 16 ticks later were able to celebrate once again, this time for the 4-3 win.

Parkinson blocked 14 of 17 shots directed his way while Cawthorne and Myrowich teamed up to stop 28 of 32 shots.

Tippett was pleased with the win.  "They tied it on a fluke goal and we could have easily said "Here we go again."  We just stayed positive and the PP executed at the right time."

The Coach continued, "The most positive aspect is we are consistently getting more consistent, doing the simple things well.  Like any team or player, when they try to do too much they end up accomplishing very little.  We are getting better at just doing our own job.  Saying this, we still had some guys who need to be better for us to compete against the top teams game in and game out."

The Panthers will practice Saturday evening and will then head up to Oceanside on Sunday for a 2:30 pm tilt against the Generals.  The Club will be back home next Friday night when they welcome in the Campbell River Storm for their fist visit of the season.