Panthers split pair of north Island games

After knocking off the Campbell River Storm 3-1 Friday night, a happy group of Peninsula Panthers boarded the iron lung on Saturday morning for points north.  The team was continuing their grueling schedule of three games in three nights, and the next stop was a date with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings that evening.  After a pre-game meal in Comox, a confident group hit the ice and did not miss a beat from Friday night.  Josh Lingard had a night to remember, one that certainly was his best ever thus far in his Junior career.  Lingard scored every way possible and five markers in total, a sum which included two short-handed goals in his memorable game.  Also tallying for the squad was Jack McMillan and 16-year-old David Edgar.  For Edgar, his marker was his first ever in Junior hockey however, judging by his sizable talent, it is most likely the first of many.  Chris Akerman was more than solid between the pipes for the Panthers and was full value in picking up the win.

"I thought that we struggled early, which might have been a hangover from the emotion of the Campbell River game the night before, but I really thought Coach Tippett and his staff had the boys fired up for the 3rd," said Pete Zubersky.  "It was a big win and we were happy to get the maximum six points on back-to-back nights."

Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., the curtain rose and the puck dropped for the third and final game of the weekend.  And the Panthers were ready to go.  They dominated the early play and midway through the first period, Tanner Wort broke in all alone on Storm goaltender Aaron Dekok and beat him cleanly with a snapshot to the top shelf.  But the lead was short-lived.  Noah Fladager picked up a loose puck deep in the Panthers' zone and snapped the shot past Connor McKillop, who was once again facing the Storm between the pipes.  The period ended as both teams skated to their respect dressing rooms knotted at 1-1 in a highly entertaining and physical affair being played before a sizable partisan Storm crowd of 435.

Although both teams continued the physical play in the 2nd and 3rd periods, the whistle unexplicably seemed to favour the Storm.  The penalties mounted against the Panthers and every time they seemed to get the momentum in the game, they were chased to the sin bin and were forced to regroup.  At the 2:36 mark of the middle stanza, Kyle Jennings scored on the power play when he was left unmarked and was able to bang in a cross-ice pass from three feet.

In the 3rd stanza, the Storm put the final touches on the win when at the 15:40 mark, and once again on the power-play, Storm's forward Mike Dyck beat McKillop for the insurance marker.  With just a minute left in the contest, Lingard was hit square in the numbers on a textbook check from behind and was launched dangerously into the corner boards deep in the Storm end.  The play went unpunished as the Referee, who was only several feel from the incident, somehow saw it in a different light.  Lingard was fortunately uninjured, but the play certainly put a punctuation mark on the game.

Head Coach, Brad Tippett was asked for comments after the game, and not wanting to face a fine or suspension, decided to reserve comment until he had addressed the team.  But he was called an hour later and had this to say:

"As we began mapping out the schedule and team goals, we planned to put in a couple of 3 games in 3 nights weekends.  We also planned a number of home-and-home series.  The objective is to simulate what playoff hockey will be like in the spring.  After being eliminated by the eventual Champion Campbell River Storm the last two Springs, I circled this weekend with 2 of the 3 games against the Storm as a litmus test to measure how far we have come over the last two plus years.  The dominating 3-1 win on Friday just confirmed we can beat anyone on any night.  Looking back two seasons ago, we couldn’t honestly make that statement.  We have made Panorama a very tough place for our opponents to play.

We boarded the bus early Saturday, enjoyed a loose trip up with a couple movies, got checked in, enjoyed a pre-game meal and got ready for the Glacier Kings.  We scored early but really were not clicking and not really engaged.  Maybe a bit of a letdown or even thinking about Sunday’s rematch with the Storm - regardless we were holding on to a 4-2 lead.  We challenged our crew to specific goals in the third and came out with likely our best period of the year.  It’s frustrating that it took 40 minutes, but our ability to “flip the switch” was quietly impressive.
 
Sunday we knew it was going to be a fierce battle.  They play hard in their building and probably had a little more fire due to the stinging loss on Friday.  Both teams had played 3 in 3 nights.  The game was of high intensity, fast, and filled with crunching hits. There were some things I was not happy with - none of which involved the performance of our team.  Suffice to say, I will be having some discussion with league officials following the 24 hour cooling-off period. Regardless, we had our chances and just couldn’t score. Any team who can outshot them (37-34) with their infamous “finger on the CR” shot counter must be doing something right.
 
Bus trips home can be very quiet after a loss.  Most of the time it’s because your team didn’t play well and lost.  Tonight it is because our guys are exhausted.  Most of them are sleeping, nursing bumps and bruises. We went to war this weekend and couldn’t ask for much more from them. But there is a real sense of closeness, a sense of pride in our team.  It was a great weekend with 6/9 points. Our team battled together, worked together, stuck up for each other.  Other than 3 extra points, we got everything we hoped for from the weekend."
 
The Peninsula Panthers will venture into the Archie Browning Arena for a Thursday evening match-up against the archrival Victoria Cougars, and will then return this Friday night to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre when they hope to play the not-so-friendly host of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings.  The Club will be looking to extend their home-ice dominance as they look to win their sixth in a row.  The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.