Panthers exhibition closes with 3-1 win over Cougars

As Panthers Alternate Governor Jason Fletcher likes to say, "It's never just an exhibition game against the Victoria Cougars," and Friday night was no different.  With a great pre-season crowd having filtered into the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre, the Panthers put on a show and ended their exhibition season on a high note having knocked off the Cougars two times in two nights.  And some of the real tough decisions will now come as Coach Brad Tippett and his bench staff come to terms with their final roster.

Tippett on the past several weeks, "The exhibition games are supposed to answer questions.  The skill level, the buy-in of the players and the willingness to play a team game has created a situation where we have more correct answers than we have questions.  This creates an atmosphere of competitiveness for ice time and to stay in the lineup but more importantly to make the team.  I really liked the intensity with whch we attacked the game.  Every time the Cougars gained a bit of momentum we had a goal, a hit or a great shift that seemed to swing things back into our favour.  A couple days off will heal some bumps and bruises.  Monday is back to work to fine tune some things such as combinations, defensive pairs, special teams, etc."

The Cougars opened the scoring at the 8:44 mark of the initial stanza on a goal by Josh Martin and although that is where the visitors scoring started, it also marked the spot where it would finish.  Late in the first period newcomer Brennan McDonnell carried the puck end to end for the Panthers before dishing off the biscuit to forward Riley Braun for the shot.  The rebound was scooped up by Braun who deftly circled behind the net and then stuffed the puck past the startled Cougars starter, Cam Stevenson.

The 2nd period was all Panthers as Logan Speirs scored on a pretty play with a helper going to Jack Taylor.  And not to be outdone and with only 35 ticks remaining in the frame, Fraser Auchterlonie tallied on assists from Garett Gilbertson and Thomas Spink.  For Auchterlonie, the marker would prove to be his third in four exhibition games in the past two weeks.

Although the final stanza was scoreless, the Panthers dominated the play and it showed when the final shots for the period were announced at 11-1 for the Panthers.  Overall the Panthers outshot their visitors 28-13. 

Conner McKillop and Chris Akerman split the game between the pipes for the Panthers while Stevenson went the distance for the Cougars.

"We have some tough choices to make at this point," explained Pete Zubersky.  "We are awaiting word out of Alberta to see if Alex Benger will be back here for this season.  Skyler Diamond-Burchuk will be back in town tomorrow and that is a real plus.  And tonight we saw a real nice effort out of Brennan McDonnell, a defenceman who hails from Tampa Bay and played hard tonight.  We will have to have some more conversation with him and his parents and make a quick decision on what is going to happen with that situation.  I do think we will be fairly solid this season but there are still a lot of irons in the fire to say the least.  I was impressed with the game of two Peninsula kids in Jonah Ragsdale and Stephen Grunert.  Both kids played hard last night as well and they are both firmly in the conversation."

The Panthers will open their 2018/19 regular season in Westshore against the Wolves on Wednesday night and will then be right back at the Panorama Recreation Centre next Friday evening at 7:30 pm for their home opener.  Fans are encouraged to arrive a bit early and to be in their seats just before gametime as the Club will have a special pre-game ceremony, part of which will utilize the new large video screen on the North end of the Rink.  A big crowd is expected so fans are asked to arrive early and be in their seats by 7:25 pm.