McDonald\'s player of the week Bodie Oates was front and centre at the Panthers game Friday night. Oates was the biggest fan in the rink but even with his encouragement the Panthers could not quite get it done and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Victoria Cougars
The Peninsula Panthers were riding an eight-game winning streak on home ice going into Friday's game at the Panorama Recreation Centre. But it all ended when the Victoria Cougars erased a Panthers 1-0 lead in the final stanza with two quick markers.
Josh Lingard broke up a play just inside the Victoria Cougars blueline and when he romped in all alone and then beat Cougars starter Owen Sikkes at the 4:31 mark of the 3rd period it looked like the Panthers home ice magic and dominance would continue for at least another Friday night. But two markers by the visitors Bryce Irwin at the 5:45 mark and then Booker Chacalias at 12:15 put the Cougars ahead for the first time on the evening and that would prove to be the story as they squeaked out a 2-1 win. The Panthers win streak started with a heart-pounding 2-1 victory on the strength of a Jonah Ragsdale tally in the last minute of play way back on September 21st and it would end on an identical score at the hands of the identical team.
The game was a battle and the whistle did not favour the Panthers in any way. The Club had the momentum for much of the game but when the whistle blew over and over again and when the steady stream of Panthers made their way to the sin bin the flow of the game changed in favour of the visitors. A large crowd became very vocal about the way the game was being handled but it seemed to fall on deaf ears and in the end, the differencial in penalties between the two teams made a world of difference in determining the winner of the contest.
Connor McKillop was stellar in the net for the Panthers in stopping 26 of 28 shots that headed in his direction while Sikkes was just a little bit better blocking 30 of 31 Panthers attempts.
On Saturday night the Panthers ventured into Oceanside Place to take on the Generals and after going up 2-0 in the 1st period watched as the Generals eventually knotted the game at 2-2 before taking the lead deep into the final stanza. But Riley Braun hit paydirt with only 17 seconds left in the game to force an overtime. The two Clubs could not settle anything in the extra stanza's although there were plenty of chances to end the game on both ends. And it once again went to the shootout - the 3rd time that the Panthers have gone the distance - and once again they fell short when Generals Brent Koch beat Panthers stopper Chris Akerman for the win.
Coach Brad Tippett was not overly excited over the effort from a few of his troops, perhaps a hangover from the previous night. " It was another effort where we didn’t get the full 60 minutes of effort from everyone. We missed too many chances and took too many penalties. We are at the half way point. We still have some veteran forwards who are only willing to pay the price part-time a lot of the time. Part-time efforts inevitably turn you into part time players."
The Panthers have another steep test this coming Friday when the visiting Campbell River Storm invade the confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre at 7:30 pm.
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