Panthers grind out 3-2 win against the Islanders

Friday, January 26th
North Saanich, British Columbia

The importance of the remaining games for the Peninsula Panthers as they come down the home stretch, make each of them exactly like playing a playoff game.  And for a roster laden with 12 rookies, these games are a great dress rehearsal for the post season which is less than three weeks away.  Judging from the intensity on the ice last night in Esquimalt against the Victoria Cougars and again on Friday night at home against the Kerry Park Islanders - although it is not yet official - these are the playoffs.

The VIJHL has instituted a playoff system where 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 with the 9th place team not seeing the post season.  The Comox Valley Glacier Kings were officially eliminated a couple of weeks ago but for all intents and purposes, their season looked like it was over early in December.  The Campbell River Storm and Nanaimo Buccaneers have the top two seeds locked up and so the battle is for the 3rd to 8th seeds.  The Peninsula Panthers would like to avoid heading for parts Northbound for their 1st round match-up and as is, they are regarding the games from here on in for the remainder of the regular season as the playoffs.

On Friday night, the Kerry Park Islanders arrived at the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre holding a four-point buldge in the standing over the Panthers however the Panthers had played one less game.  It was a four-pointer in every sense of the word and it looked as though the Islanders had approached the first five minutes of the game like bank robbers looking to steal the Kings' Ransom.  They crashed and banged and battled and bullied however, the youthful Panthers matched their intensity and it was clearly game on right from the opening face-off.  Chris Akerman made the start for the Panthers while Chase Anderson got the start for the Islanders, and both were perfect through the first frame.  There were chances on both ends as the game roared up and down the ice, much to the delight of a decent-sized crowd in attendance on the Saanich Peninsula.

It would be the Panthers who would put a pin in the balloon first when, at the 4:46 mark and on the power play, the suddenly red hot Carson Cox came off the left wall and blasted a puck past Anderson high to the glove side.  Marshall Brown and Gavin Yee were awarded assists on the play.  But the lead was short-lived.  Islanders' Brandon McClintick knotted the game at 1-1 midway through the middle stanza and it looked like it might sit that way going into the 2nd intermission.  But the kid line of Josh Lingard, Riley Braun and Tanner Wort had other ideas.  The three worked the puck low in the Islanders' zone before Braun and Wort managed to get the puck to Lingard positioned in front of the Islanders' net.  And he would make no mistake giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead with his marker at the 18:13 mark.

The Islanders would have an early answer in the final stanza when Keenan Eddy again tied the game at the 3:58 mark.  The goal was scored on the power play when Eddy gathered in a puck in the low slot after a rebound off the pad of Akerman landed on his stick.  It remained that way but the Panthers were applying pressure looking for the go-ahead marker.  At the 11:54 mark, Panthers' defenceman Yee kept the puck in at the right point and it squirted to the gritty and hard-nosed Bryson Hines.  "Hinsey" made a special backhand dish to Braun who was stationed only feet to the left of Anderson and was unmarked.  And Braun made no mistake putting it past Anderson, a goal that would prove to be the eventual winner.  Both Clubs exchanged some chances and the Islanders pulled Anderson with less than a minute to go in regulation but it would prove to be all for naught as the Panthers held on for the 3-2 win.

The line of Logan Speirs, Jack McMillan and Ty Hermsen did not factor in the scroring but the trio were busy all night eating up minutes and playing an abrasive style.  All three were in on some big hits and played exceptional in their own end.

Akerman was awarded with the win stopping 25 of 27 shots while Anderson took the loss and was good on 35 of 38 attempts sent his way.  Speirs, McMillan and Hines were named as the game's three stars.

The local "Cats" will have the weekend off before getting back to practice on Monday.  They will welcome in the Nanaimo Buccaneers on Friday night, the Bucs final visit of the Regular Season.  The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm.

Panthers Tracks....Marshall Brown who is noted for being an offensive threat made his presence known throughout the game....not only did he chip in with an assist on a Carson Cox tally, he was the first forward back on the backcheck throughout the evening....Riley Braun continued his hot streak and his unselfish and hard-nosed play is not being lost on the Coaching staff or Management....Akerman was solid between the pipes following up nicely on a big game from Bryce Schiebel on Thursday against the Cougars....Jack McMillan is playing his best hockey over the past two years with the Panthers in the last several weeks....Skyler Diamond-Burchuk returned from his Crashed Ice adventure in Minnesota and looked none the worse for wear....Panthers Awards Dinner will take place February 17th and all family, friends and fans are encouraged to join the Club....the Panthers have won four of their last five games, all four coming against the four South Division teams....Nolan Lee who joined the squad just before Christmas banged up his shoulder on Thursday evening against the Cougars and it looks like he will be on the shelf for several weeks....Goaltender Connor McKillop has been waiting quietly in the wings but is ready to go when Coach Brad Tippett punches his ticket....Joe Stafford-Veale is expected back into the lineup in the next 7-14 days....Brendan Martin has been out of the lineup for the past several weeks due to an injury suffered back several weeks ago but skated this week....