Fans on the Peninsula may have turned out to see the Peninsula Panthers Home Opener. Some in attendance might have wanted to see the newly-renovated "B" Rink at the Panorama Recreation Centre. Whatever the motivation for attending the game was for fans, each and every one of them were treated to the best of the best. The renovation is stunning. The game was every bit as good!
The South Division of the Vancouver Island Hockey League just became that much tighter with the Peninsula Panthers win over the Westshore Wolves on opening night. After spanking the Wolves 6-2 at the Q-Centre on Wednesday evening, the Panthers went out and won again, this time by a 2-1 count. The back-to-back wins allowed the "Cats" to sweep the two-game home-and-home series and to pull within three points of the South Division leaders. And the timing could not have been any better. The Wolves had been on a four-game win streak going into Wednesday's affair but their cushion at the top of the rung in the South Division has become just a little bit less comfortable.
The two Clubs completed the customary 15-minute warmup on the newly renovated sheet of ice at the Panorama and then it was time for the Olympia Ice Machine to make the rounds, greasing down every square inch to near perfection. The Panthers 2017/18 roster was trotted out for all to see and after a couple of speeches and the National Anthem by Clayton Butler, Grant Reid who owns the three McDonald's Restaurants on the Peninsula and Wayne Ruffle who is the Chair of the Peninsula Recreation Commission, both attended to Centre Ice for the ceremonial puck drop. From then on it was all business.
The Wolves came howling out of the gate early, helped when the Panthers were sent to the sin bin four straight times before the game was even 12 minutes old. And that run of penalties provided the Wolves with all of the momentum in the first stanza and they took full advantage by pounding pucks at the home squad's Starter, Bryce Schiebel. But Shiebel held firm making several great stops and at the 10:44 mark and - you guessed it - on the penalty kill, Bryson Hines forced a turnover in the Wolves end, slipped the puck to Josh Lingard and the rookie forward blew one past a startled Luke Sheldrake who was minding the nets for the visitors. It would prove to be the only tally of the period.
At the 6:03 mark of the 2nd frame Thomas Spink and Hines sent Brendan "Marty" Martin down the left side through the neutral zone. Martin barged in on Sheldrake and beat the netminder to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. The lead was cut to a single goal when Wolves veteran forward Nick Polomark managed to deflect a point shot past Schiebel on a goal that the Panthers stopper had no chance. It would prove to be the last marker in the game.
The penalty parade continued for the Panthers, the biggest blow when with only eight minutes remaining, defenceman Shota Yamamoto received a five-minute penalty for a check from behind. This came with the automatic game misconduct and the rugged rearguard headed for the showers. The Panthers received a bench minor during the stoppage and with already one other Panthers' player in the box, the situation looked dismal. But Schiebel was nothing less than outstanding making outstanding save after outstanding save.
Head Coach Brad Tippett commented after the game. "There are many different ways to win a hockey game. Tonight we discovered a new one and that was by playing more than a third of the game short-handed! The majority were fully deserved. Some were effort level or lack of, some out of fatigue and desperation, and some were just dumb and needless penalties. There were also some mystery penalties that we just did not understand but maybe they had merit. On the other side of the coin, our penalty killing was outstanding, highlighted by Lingard's short-handed goal. Schiebel's heroics in goal and a resilient bend but not break defence made the difference. The four consecutive penalties in the first period set a defence-first tone. We seemed to get stuck in that mode only opening up on two different 6-8 minute stints when we were not in the box. The composure and poise we are showing is very encouraging. Our guys firmly believe Age is only a number on the website."
Schiebel blocked 40 of 41 shots directed his way in picking up the win while Sheldrake was collared with the loss, stopping 10 of 12 shots. The three stars were Schiebel, Hines and Polomark.
The Panthers will be right back at it on Thanksgiving Monday night when they will host the visiting Victoria Cougars for the first time this season. The puck is set to drop on Monday at 7:30 pm.
The Team will then head to Nanaimo next Thursday night for a tilt against the North Division leading Buccaneers before coming right back to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre next Friday night when they will host play host to Division rival Kerry Park Islanders. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
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