Wort with 5-point night leads Panthers over Islanders

November 3, 2019
Mill Bay, British Columbia

With a convincing 5-3 road win on a balmy Sunday afternoon in Mill Bay against the Kerry Park Islanders, the Peninsula Panthers continued their impressive run.  After a heart-pounding 2-1 overtime win Friday night at home against the Nanaimo Buccaneers, the Club ran their win/loss record to a stellar 16-3, good enough for top spot in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.  The Panthers have a 4-point lead over the Victoria Cougars in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League standings, albeit, they have played three more games than their crosstown rivals.

Nineteen-year-old Tanner Wort had his best night on the stats sheet since coming into the League as a 17-year old.  Wort is now a 3-year veteran and his play has been stellar this season.  Wort notched a pair of goals and added three assists for a 5-point afternoon as he collected points on all five Panthers' goals.  Linemate Riley Braun had a couple goals and added an assist while defenceman Thomas Spink joined the party with a late power play marker when he blasted a pass from Braun past Islanders' goaltender Spencer Deakin.  "Cats" stopper Chris Combiadakis collected his 5th win in as many tries and blocked 22 of 25 shots along the way.

Lighting the lamp for the home side were Dawson Elzinga, Riley Windsor and Corey Mater.  Deakin was nothing short of outstanding between the pipes for the Islanders and he managed to stop 37 of 42 Panthers shots, many of which were from point blank range.

"I thought we started strong and although there appeared to be a couple passengers, for the most part our kids were working all night long," said GM Pete Zubersky.  "I never get tired of watching Lingard, Wort and Braun.  Those three kids are worth the cost of admission every single night.  They have played together since they all arrived a little over two years ago but this year it seems they have figured it out.  They are selfless.  They play for each other.  The puck moves and they don't care who scores or who gets an assist.  All three of them play the game the way it should be played.  Lingard had a beautiful assist on one of Wort's goals but he could have had two or three himself.  The puck flew high off his stick and over the net a few times this afternoon or the line would have had a scary bottom line on the stats page."

The locals head up to Nanaimo on Thursday night for a game against the ever-tough Buccaneers and will be right back to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night against their nemesis, the Campbell River Storm.  The puck drops just shortly after 7:30 pm.