Panthers bounced 5-2 by Islanders to open 2019

The Peninsula Panthers had a dominant evening in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night in every single area of the game except for where it mattered - the scoreboard.  It was a game that continued a pattern for the Club and one to which the coaching staff is trying to find an answer.  After 60 minutes were in the books, the visiting Kerry Park Islanders walked from their dressing room and onto their bus with a 5-2 win, one that left a bitter taste with Head Coach Brad Tippett, his staff and the players.

Coach Tippett was approached an hour after the game for his comments and he was obviously still a bit hot under the collar.  "Same story, same result.  We had set goals going into the game. I felt if we could accomplish the goals that I laid out, our chances of getting 3 points were good.  Our team goals were 15/shots per period - we had 48, hold them to 10 shots against / per period - they had 30.  We wanted 2ppg -'✔️'.  Every mistake ended up in our net. We had great chances. Rook was outstanding stopping 46. What continues is the missed chances to score but also being ready in front of the net.  We simply missed the net and lack of traffic in front of the net once again hurt us.  We scored two goals, both from two feet out.  On a positive note, our PP at home tallied twice.  We got more than expected from Matthew Sparrow. He's obviously a little rusty but he got a lot stronger as the game wore on.
 
Until our boys decide to hit the net, we will continue to play well and lose.  We shot it over the net 5 times just in the third period alone."

On Friday morning newcomer Matt Sparrow met with Tippett and Pete Zubersky for a short meeting and for Sparrow to grab some equipment from his new team.  The big power forward had been banged up since attending a Junior A camp in Alberta back in early September and the injury had taken a bit longer to come around than expected.  But Sparrow had arrived on the Peninsula the previous day and was excited to get going.

"We were really impressed with Matt as soon as he walked into the office," explained Zubersky.  "He seems like a really good young fellow and when he walked through the door you knew that he was there.  He is a presence at 6'2" and 215 lbs.  He was excited to get going and to play in his first game this season."

Sparrow and the Panthers came out of the chutes looking like they were on a mission and only six minutes in had already thrown eight shots at Islanders netminder Rett Rook while the Islanders had not yet had a sniff at Panthers starter Chris Akerman.  But at the 7:30 mark and on only their 2nd shot of the game Islanders Romaeo D'Intinio put a shot past Akerman and it opened the flood gates.  Alex Engan at the 15:53 mark and then D'intinio once again at 16:13 gave the visitors a commanding 3-0 lead, making the most on their eight shots to that point.  The "Cats" went on a power play late in the period and at the 17:52 mark Josh Lingard finished off the prettiest tally of the evening when he beat Rook with helpers on the play from Joe Stafford-Veale and Carson Cox.

The Islanders scored the only marker of the middle stanza coming short-handed late at the 18:19 mark when forward Tanner Tiel romped in all alone from centre ice and cleanly beat Akerman.  After two periods were in the books the visitors held a commanding 4-1 lead and it was clear that the Panthers would need to score early and often to get back into the contest in the final frame.

That was not the case.  The Islanders went to the power play and at the 1:06 mark with the fans just barely getting back to their seats Evan Easton beat Akerman to give the visitors a 5-1 lead.  The Panthes continued to work hard and put more shots at Rook but a number of quality scoring chances sailed wide or high off the glass, missed opportunities that could have put the Club back into the contest.  Panthers Jack McMillan was stationed in front of Rook on the power play with just 64 seconds left in the game when he finished off a shot from Skyler Diamond-Burchuk from the point.  McMillan's tally was from two feet out.

"I talked to Sparrow in the parking lot after the game," said Zubersky.  "He really enjoyed being back but it was clear that he does not like losing.  He felt frustrated and mentioned that it seemed like we were in the Islanders zone all night long but did not score enough.  This kid is going to be a difference maker moving forward.  We need more guys that don't want to lose and that starts from the crease on out.  We need guys to go to the net, to be in front of the net, to score goals from two feet, to bang in rebounds, to get greasy goals.  This is how you win.  This is how you win in the playoffs.  Winning is not free.  There is always a price you have to pay.  There are no free lunches.  Rook was not going to let in a shot last night from 30 feet out.  Lingard and McMillan scored from a total of four feet.  We outshot the Islanders 48-30 and out-chanced them and played in their zone most of the night.  This is a storyline that is getting way too old.  Coach can't go stand in front of the net or he would.  Coach can't make saves or he would.  This was a game we should have won.  We need saves, we need guys to pay a price."

The Panthers travel to Westshore to take on the Wolves at the Q-Centre on Wednesday and will be back at the Panorama to welcome in the Victoria Cougars on Friday night at 7:30 pm.