Panthers blow out the Storm

The Peninsula Panthers dispatched the visiting Campbell River Storm by a 3-1 count on Friday night to open a busy stretch of hockey for the "Cats" from the Peninsula.  After raising their sticks to the crowd at the end of the game, the Panthers immediately began to look forward to what will be three games in three days by the time Sunday evening rolls around.

On Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre, numerous calls by the official took much of the steam out of the game in the early going but once allowed to play, the two clubs raced up and down the ice in an entertaining affair.  And with only 35 ticks left in the opening stanza, Panthers' forward Logan Speirs picked up a loose puck at the top of the circles and snapped a high shot over a shocked Jaden Little between the pipes for the visitors to give the locals a bit of a jump going into the first intermission.

The middle frame was all Panthers in the scoring department.  Hunter Jensen made a nifty move in his own end and slid the puck up the left wall to Carson Cox.  Cox saw Jake Gajda speeding down the right wing and he hit his linemate in full stride as he screamed through the neutral zone.  Gajda took a shot on Little and a juicy rebound popped out to Hayden Visscher and he made no mistake as he pounded it to the back of the net to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.  And six minutes later, the Cats would strike again.  Riley Braun picked up the pass from Skyler Diamond-Burchuck on the half wall in his own end and he deftly chipped it off the wall to Speirs who was moving in for support.  Speirs carried the puck the length of the ice and then made a pass across to a streaking David Edgar who beat Little to give the Panthers the 3-0 lead.  It was Edgar's first goal in Junior Hockey and one that was more than welcomed by his mates.

It appeared as though the Panthers goaltender Connor McKillop would post the shutout however, a defensive miscue deep in the Panthers end allowed the Storm's Keenan Toal to crack the goose egg with only five seconds left in the contest, a goal which gave the visitors something to take from the game.

The Panthers head up to Comox tomorrow for an 7:30 pm start against the Glacier Kings.  They will then overnight in the Comox/Courtenay area and will travel up to Campbell River on Sunday for a 4:00 pm return match with the Storm in what will most likely be a loud home crowd.

With the win, the Panthers have stretched their home winning streak to five games.  McKillop and Little both faced 31 shots.  The three stars of the game were Speirs, Edgar and Visscher.