SharePanthers draw first blood on Speirs' winner
2019-02-26
17-year-old Logan Speirs undressed Campbell River Storm\'s goaltender, #1 Aaron De Kok late in the 2nd period to give the Panthers the lead in the game. It would prove to be in the winner. (Photo by Gordon Lee)
The Peninsula Panthers captured Game 1 of the Best-of-7 series against the VIJHL-leading Campbell River Storm by a 4-2 count. Game 2 of the series is set to go back in Campbell River this Friday night at 7:30 pm.The Peninsula Panthers loaded up their bus with absolutely no fanfare early on Tuesday afternoon and then the iron lung ambled out of the Greater Victoria area for parts North. It was a quiet ride to Nanaimo; at times you could hear a pin drop. And that was a good thing. There was a clear focus on what the task was that was dead ahead.
The Iron Lung made a right off the highway in Nanaimo and after a turn or two more, it came to rest in the Boston Pizza parking lot on the North end of town. The meal had been arranged by Bucs Owner and Governor Clayton Robinson and the Panthers' group was more than a little happy for the help. The boys had a feed of pasta and then got right back into their seats and the trip continued North to Campbell River where a 7:30 pm meeting edged closer with each kilometer that passed by.
After the warmup, the sheet was greased and the two Clubs entered the surface set to go end to end. But a pre-game ceremony put the game on ice for several minutes as members of the Campbell River Storm collected individual awards and the Storm accepted the Trophy as the VIJHL Regular Season Champs.
But when the puck dropped, the 48-game Regular Season was just a fading memory in the rearview mirror and both teams started with the same total of points.....zero.
Josh Lingard opened the scoring for the Panthers at the 18:05 mark - and while short-handed - when he stripped a Storm defenceman and walked in all alone on the Storm's All-Star netminder Aaron de Kok. Lingard made a nifty move and then slipped the disk through the five-hole enroute to the back of the cage. But the lead would not last long. Only 11 seconds later, Damon Porter tallied for the locals to knot the score at 1-1 and the Storm would take the lead only 30 seconds after the Porter marker when Tyler Chyzowski managed to beat Panthers' stopper Chris Akerman. The period would end with the Storm up 2-1.
At the 10:59 mark of the middle stanza, 6'4" defenceman Alex Benger hammered a clapper from the right point and it zoomed past the upper paraphernalia of de Kok and into the top portion of the cage behind him. The goal, like the one off the stick of Lingard, was unassisted. And at the 15:03 mark, 17-year-old Logan Speirs found himself all alone in front of the Campbell River goalie and he made a sweet move causing de Kok to go down before lifting it over him and into the net. The Speirs goal made it 3-2 for the Cats and it would prove to hold up and to be the winner on the night. Matt Sparrow and Hayden Visscher were awarded helpers on the play.
In the final frame, both teams skated back and forth but late in the game the Panthers were sent to the Power Play. A bouncing puck saw Visscher manage to control it just a couple feet out and to the right of de Kok and with a wide open net, the winger made no mistake giving the Panthers an insurance marker and a 4-2 lead with only 1:42 to go in Regulation time. The Storm went on a late power play and pulled de Kok to go 6-on-4, but they would not solve Akerman any more on this evening.
Coach Tippett on his troops and on the evening:
"We came here on a clear mission. We liked our focus in practice last night and it carried over today. I thought we managed our part of the game well — by that I mean we managed the puck, managed our emotions, made timely unselfish changes, managed the natural desire to try to do too much. I thought our leaders led and our followers followed. No passengers. Most of all we played for the name on front of the sweater —not the name on the back.
CR has a good club with a lot of pride. It’s a best of seven - no one wins anything until someone wins four. We fully acknowledge and accept the challenge that every shift, every period, and every game will be a battle.
I expect both coaching staffs to make a few adjustments. We will be forced to make at least one lineup change due to suspension."
The Panthers will head to Campbell River on Friday for Game 2 and will then return to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Sunday at 5:30 pm for Game 3 and on Monday at 7:30 pm for Game 4.
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