Road Kill!

The Peninsula Panthers improved their record to 10-1 on Thursday night at the Pirate Ship in Nanaimo against Buccaneers with an impressive and convincing 4-0 win.  The victory kept their perfect road record in tact this season at 6-0 with wins in Campbell River, Comox, Oceanside, Nanaimo, Kerry Park and Saanich.

The Club departed the Victoria area enroute to Nanaimo around 3:30 pm and were down one defenceman in Hunter Jensen.  The 17-year-old veteran was forced to stay at home as he was scheduled to write a test.  Jensen should be back in the lineup Friday night when the Panthers host the North Division leading Oceanside Generals at 7:30 pm.

The puck dropped shortly after 7:15 pm in Nanaimo. Connor McKillop was between the pipes for the visiting Panthers, while the Buccaneers chose to start their stopper Austin Dendl. Although the trip was only 90 minutes, it seemed to affect the Panthers as they came out sluggish and slow. And they were whistled for the first two penalties of the game, including a Minor to Jack Taylor for Goaltender Interference and to Matt Sparrow for Tripping. Both penalties were 200 feet from McKillop.  Although the Panthers outshot the home squad by a 14-8 count, it was the Buccaneers who rang pucks off the post twice and appeared to have the better scoring opportunies, albeit neither team was able to hit the scoresheet in the first 20 minutes of play.

The puck dropped for the start of the 2nd stanza and the visiting group of "Cats" seemed to have more of a jump.  And at the 3:28 mark, Panthers' Defenceman Skyler Diamond-Burchuk gathered in a loose puck in the high slot on a Nanaimo Buccaneers' turnover, walked in to the low slot and ripped a shot past Dendl to open the scoring. At the 17:50 mark, Mackenzie Benn-Wipp joined the party. Josh Lingard battled for a loose puck right near the blueline in his own end and promptly dished a pass to Tanner Wort who was romping down the right side. Benn-Wipp, who had just come off the Panthers' bench on a change, jumped in on his off-wing to make it a 2-on-1 from the blueline on in, and Wort fed him a pretty pass. Benn-Wipp one-timed the pass from 15 feet out and that combination left Dendl with no chance. The Panthers outshot the Bucaneers 14-7 in the periood and, although not tested often, McKillop was sharp. Lingard was whistled on an Interference penalty with just five ticks left in the frame, and the Panthers would start the final period with a man short.

The penalty kill worked well to start the 3rd frame and at the 3:08 mark, Tanner Wort dug out a puck to the left of Dendl, put it on the tape of Riley Braun and he quickly made it 3-0 roofing the puck to the top of the net. The period went all the Panthers' way and at the 19:08 mark, and with the game already decided, Defenceman Matt Seale picked up a puck in his own end and lobbed it into the neutral zone.  Panthers' speedy Forward Denver Maloney raced on to the disc, broke in all alone on Dendl, and made no mistake putting it past the Bucaneers' stopper. Conner McKillop did not make a mistake and collected the shutout in the 4-0 win.

Head Coach Brad Tippett had some thoughts as he was interviewed in the Lobby of the Nanaimo Ice Centre:

"Some nights you need your goalie to hold you in the game and give you a chance to win. McKillop did that tonight for us in the 1st period. I thought we were a little too loose on the bus - that business-like atmosphere was missing. There was a little discussion between periods.  We came out with more energy, determination and made much smarter decisions. When we work hard we give ourselves a chance to win.  When we play smart, we have a chance to win. When we work hard AND play smart -we are hard to beat! McKillop was our only player in the 1st Period and it was hard to single anyone out in the 2nd and 3rd Periods as we had everyone going."

The Panthers host the visiting Oceanside Generals Friday night.  The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.