Panthers split weekend pair of games

The long home-ice winning streak that lasted for a couple months came to an abrupt end two weeks ago and is long ago in the rearview mirror for the Peninsula Panthers.  And lately, wins have been just a little bit tougher to come by.  On Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre, the Panthers played hard and most likely deserved a far better fate and although they outshot the visiting Victoria Cougars, a several minute lapse in the 2nd frame where the visitors scored five goals on six shots would spell disaster.  And in the end the final score read 7-3 howeve,r the score in no way reflected the play over the 60 minutes.  Riley Braun led the Panthers scoring notching a pair of markers while Captain Thomas Spink scored in the final stanza.  Connor McKillop and Chris Akerman shared time between the pipes with McKillop picking up the loss on the evening.

On Saturday night, Akerman was back between in goal and he had a stellar evening blocking 34 of 35 shots directed his way in picking up a 2-1 win in Kerry Park against a streaking Islanders team.  Lanky defenceman Scott Arbuckle blasted in a 2nd period marker in the 2nd period but had help as hulking forward Jake Gajda left Islanders Rett Rook completely blind on the play with a perfectly executed screen.  And late in the game, Josh Lingard won the draw deep in the Islanders' end to Braun who in turn shovelled the puck behind the net to linemate Tanner Wort.  Wort threw a no-look pass right onto Braun's tape and he finished off the perfectly orchestrated play.  

Coach Tippett on the weekend pair of games:  
"We still seem to have a problem putting 60 minutes together against the Cougars. After pushing most of the play in the first period, we made a risky play and a bad bounce allowed the Cougars to knot the score up after the first. We got blitzed the first 10 minutes of the 2^nd and the game was essentially over. The Cougars are skilled but are not nearly as dangerous when the checking is relentless. When you let them have room to skate, they are dangerous. When you finish checks and take away their time and space, they are only as good as any other team in the league. Funny thing—that goes for any team.
 
On Saturday ,Chris Akerman held us in for the first few minutes and we seemed to get stronger and stronger as the game wore on. We had excitement on the bench, we initiated agenda, and forced the play. I thought both goaltenders were excellent. I thought we really took over in the 2^nd period with Rook making a couple of saves that kept it close. We were a lot more committed to the win and played together. We have let games slip away in the last couple of minutes but tonight there was much more resolve and maybe we got over the hump. It was great to see Arbuckle score. He has a heavy low shot and we were able to get traffic in front of the goaltender."

The Panthers will take on the Nanaimo Buccaneers on Friday night at 7:30 pm in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.