Panthers win final Regular Season game - Playoffs set

The game did not matter in terms of standings but for a Panthers lineup that was void of a number of players, a winning outcome was important none-the-less.  The Panthers had been playing good hockey as of late, outshooting their opponents most nights but when the final buzzer sounded each night, there was nothing to show for it in terms of wins.  But on Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre, the home squad changed all of that with a dominating final 20 minutes.

The Kerry Park Islanders rolled into town looking to grab two points in the standings to help set up their 1st round of the playoffs while the Panthers were looking to play hard and prepare for their 1st Round playoff opponent, the Campbell River Storm.  And it was the Islanders' Avery Nielsoen-Webb who drew first blood 9:42 into the opening stanza when he beat Panthers' starter Bryce Schiebel.  Tanner Wort was quick to reply just over a minute later on helpers from Riley Braun and Josh Lingard.  It was the rookie's 18th goal of the season.  The two once again exchanged goals five minutes later, the Islanders Keenan Eddy beating Schiebel while Braun bagged his 18th on a pretty setup from LIngard.  But the Islanders would take the lead at the 15:14 mark when a shot from the point bounced off a Panthers' defender and onto the stick of Joe Leakey.  Leakey tapped the puck into the wide open cage and that is how the high-scoring initial 20 minutes would end.

The Islanders struck for two more markers by the midway point in the 2nd frame to give the visitors a commanding 5-2 lead, both coming via Braydon Nelson.  Jack McMillan had somewhat of an answer when at the 15:31 mark, he tipped a shot past Islanders' netminder Parker Swanson.  Leading up to the goal, the Panthers had a relentless forecheck and were rewarded when Marshall Brown picked the pocket of an Islanders' forward.  Brown dangled a couple times while working himself into the high slot and then let the shot go that McMillan was able to redirect.  The two teams went to the 2nd intermission with the Islanders holding a 5-3 lead.

At the 3:20 mark of the 3rd period, Gavin Yee gathered in the puck in the corner to the right of Schiebel and deftly moved it to Bryson Hines on the half wall.  Hines took one step and sent the puck rink-wide past McMillan who in the neutral zone.  McMillan let the puck go through and it landed onto the stick of Brendan Martin who was racing down the left side.  Martin turned an Islanders defenceman inside out and then barged in on Swanson, beating him with a shot to the short side.  The Panthers swarmed the Islanders looking for the marker that would knot the score at 5-5 and it would be Carson Cox who would find the answer at the 10:38 mark and on the power play.  Shota Yamamoto kept the puck inside the line at the left point and skated it along the line to the middle.  He sent a shot towards Swanson and Brown who was camped out right on top of the blue paint.  Brown deflected the puck onto Swanson but the rebound came out to Cox who was sliding in from the half wall.  Cox blistered a shot that found nothing but net.  For the suddenly hot forward it was his 6th tally in the last nine games after going through an extended scoring drought.  The Panthers continued to hem the Islanders in their own zone on a forecheck that would not stop and with just over four minutes remaining in the contest, it would pay off as they took their first lead of the game.  Hines picked up the puck in front of the lanky Islanders' netminder and back-handed one towards Swanson.  It was time for Martin to be right on top of the crease causing a bit of havoc and this played a huge role in the Hines' shot getting past the Islanders' goaltender for the go-ahead and eventual winning marker.  The Islanders pulled their target in the final 1:30 of the game but it was to no avail as the Panthers held firm to hold on for the 6-5 win.

Swanson was good on 33 of 39 shots and took the loss while Schiebel was awarded with the win after blocking 23 of 28 pucks directed his way.  Martin, Skyler Diamond-Burchuk and Yamamoto were named the three stars.

The Club will hold their annual awards banquet at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney on Saturday night and will then prepare for the Campbell River Storm in their 1st round of the playoffs.  The following is what the best-of-7 series looks like:

Game 1  Tuesday, February 20 @ 7:30 pm   at Storm
Game 2  Friday, February 23 @ 7:30 pm       at Storm
Game 3  Sunday, February 25 @ 1:00 pm    at PANTHERS
Game 4  Monday, February 26 @ 7:30 pm   at PANTHERS
Game 5  Tuesday, February 27 @ 7:30 pm  at Storm
Game 6  Friday, March 2 @ 7:30 pm            at PANTHERS
Game 7  Saturday, March 3 @ TBA              at Storm