Scrappy Panthers fall just short in shootout loss to Storm

A good crowd was in attendance on Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre and they witnessed a thrilling 9-7 win by the Campbell River Storm over the "Cats" from the Peninsula.  But for anyone who thought they had better plans for the evening and did not show up for the customary hotdog, popcorn and some game action, they missed what was easily the most entertaining game of the season.  The contest had everything a hockey fan could ask for and more.

The Storm were up 9-6 with 2:30 left in the affair when Dylan McCann was whistled and sent to the sin bin for tripping.  He would join the visitors Darren Hards, who only a minute earlier had made a crushing hit on Panthers Bailey Ross just to the right of Panthers goaltender Liam Tutt.  Hards received a five-minute major for the contact to the head and it breathed a bit of late life into the Panthers Club.  Head Coach Brad Tippett chose to utilize his timeout after McCann was sitting comfortably in the penalty box and coming out of the thirty second break, goaltender Liam Tutte stayed on the bench for the extra attacker.  With a seldom seen 6-on-3 on their side, the puck moved back to defenceman Gavin Yee and he took a shot towards Campbell River starter Chase Anderson.  It changed direction onto the stick of Marshall Brown and he took a quick shot that Anderson stopped but a juicy rebound resulted just to his right.  And it was Owens who would make no mistake - for the fourth time in the game - as he tapped it into the visitors cage to draw the home side within two goals. 

There was still 2:07 left in the game when the marker occurred and McCann exited the sin bin.  The Panthers chose to leave Tutte on the bench and go with the 6-on-4 advantage and after the faceoff at centre ice, they quickly moved right back into the Storm zone.  After a couple of quick passes, the puck found the stick of Kai Turner parked right in front of Anderson with 1:40 left to go.  Turner tipped the puck but the Storm stopper somehow found a way to block the attempt to keep the Panthers at bay.  The clock would wind down but as the fans trickled out of the Recreation Centre there was a buzz in the air.

"The game had a bit of everything," said Panthers General Manager Pete Zubersky.  "The first period ended at 2-2 but it might have been the best 20 minutes of action this season.  We came out hard in the second frame and at one point Zack Evans stepped up in the neutral zone and just hammered Sheldon Brett who is one of the tougher kids in the league.  The two threw a couple punches but everyone on the ice stuck up for each other.  We are starting to do that more and more.  We have grown so much and in the last three or four weeks we have become a different team.  It is always satisfying to see a bunch of young kids grow and that is what has happened.  We still have plans on making some noise this season."

The Panthers hit the ice next Friday night when the schedule does not get any easier.  They will host the Saanich Braves, the puck drops at 7:30 pm.