Panthers put the chill on Glacier Kings with 4-2 win

November 22, 2019
North Saanich, B.C.

The Peninsula Panthers put the visiting Comox Valley Glacier Kings on ice Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  And with the 4-2 win in front of a partisan crowd, the Cats moved their record against the visitors to a healthy 4-0.  With Friday's win firmly in place, the Club has now closed the the books on the 2019/20 season with the Glacier Kings.  The only way the two could meet again this season would be if both squads made it to the VIJHL best-of-7 finals.

"Comox has had a struggle this season," quipped GM Pete Zubersky.  "But I believe that they are making some huge strides and we could see it in the lineup they iced tonight.  With a little patience, the Glacier Kings will be putting up wins this season and I think they will be more than just competitive next September."

The Panthers were playing without key forwards in sniper Matt Sparrow and speedster Denver Maloney.  Sparrow has a broken wrist and is possibly out until the Christmas Break however, is slated for a follow-up X-ray on December 1st.  He was in the top three in VIJHL scoring when he was injured three weeks ago.  Maloney was really starting to play at a high level when he sustained his injury.  He is feeling much better after being drilled into the boards last Sunday in a game against the Saanich Braves and is expected back into the lineup in the next 7-10 days. Former Panthers' scoring champion left winger Drew Coughlin made his home debut for the squad after playing his initial game this year in a 4-3 dramatic win at the Q-Centre against the Wolves two days ago on Wednesday evening.  Couglin was signed on Monday and was just getting his feet wet in practice and in the game earlier this week.

Connor McKillop made the start between the pipes for the locals after getting the nod from Head Coach Brad Tippett and he picked up his league-leading 15th win on the evening blocking 17 of 19 Glacier Kings' shots along the way.

The Cats started out strongly and carried the play throughout the first ten minutes of the contest.  And only 1:47 in, Alexander Benger opened the scoring on assists from Mackenzie Benn-Wipp and Thomas Spink.  The Panthers continued to push the pace and after the Glacier Kings were penalized, the locals went to the power play much to the delight of 315 fans in attendance.  The Glacier Kings managed to ice the puck to relieve some pressure and it was picked up by Josh Lingard on the way back into his own zone.  Lingard wheeled the net and cut straight up the middle and just before he hit his own blue line going back up ice, he sent a lazer to linemate Tanner Wort at the far blue line.  Wort broke in alone and made no mistake in beating Glacier Kings' starter Brandon Naidu to open up a 2-0 lead.  There would be no more scoring through the first 20 minutes.

The Glacier Kings came out with a lot more energy in the middle stanza and scored a couple markers before the 7:12 mark with Clayton Bono and Jack Fairfield hitting the scoresheet to knot the game at 2-2.  It would be the last time the Glacier Kings would beat McKillop on the night.  At the 17:41 mark, the Panthers would regain the lead on a goal from Sterling Lyon.  Logan Speirs and Benn-Wipp were awarded helpers on the play.

The final frame was all Panthers as they bombarded Naidu with 21 shots while only giving up a pair of attempts.  Jonah Ragsdale put the game out of reach when at the 8:37 mark, he hit paydirt for the Cats.  Stefan Grunert and Skyler Diamond-Burchuk won a puck battle at their own blueline and then Diamond-Burchuk sent Ragsdale away down the left side with a pass.  Ragsdale was bumped off the puck just inside the Glacier Kings' blue line however, he continued and once gathering in the puck on the left wall, he raced to the net.  A great shot to the top, beat Naidu and it would prove to be just too much for the visitors to recover from.

Lyon for the Panthers and Naidu for the Glacier Kings were awarded the Players of the Game however, Ragsdale and Grunert also played hard all night and could have just as easily won the award.

Head Coach Brad Tippett offered up his comments on the game. 

"Our first 10 minutes of the game were great , the next 10 were the complete opposite. We seemed to get back on track in the second and I thought the 3rd was our best period in a month. The flow of the game was conducive to the grinders. We started the Taylor/Grunert/Ragsdale line in two periods with a mission to establish a forecheck and possession time. They successfully set the tone and it was great to see them rewarded with that huge 3rd period goal. Lyon and Thomson-Fiddes also had great games up front. In the 3rd period we had everyone committed to playoff style hockey. Short shifts, getting pucks in deep and focusing on possession with safe plays. It had complete buy in. Our leadership group led the way. Everyone took a great deal of pride in just shutting Comox down. It was an easy period to coach as everyone just did their jobs for 40/50 seconds and then the next set just did the same.

The game featured a group of Peninsula Minor Hockey Association Novice Major players, 24 in total.  They entertained and delighted a solid crowd for seven minutes during the 1st intermission in a mini-game. 

"I loved their game as much as ours," quipped GM Pete Zubersky.  "We love to partner with the PMHA, the closer we are in our relationship the better it is for both PMHA and the Panthers in my opinion.  It was a great night."

The Panthers will have the weekend off after a busy run of games and practices and will be right back at it with practice on Monday.  They will have a week of practice before welcoming in the visiting Kerry Park Islanders next Friday evening.  The Islanders recently made a coaching change and it has seemed to work as they travelled to Nanaimo last night and came out on top in a rink that has traditionally been a very tough spot to win.  The contest next Friday night at the Panorama will go at the usual 7:30 pm start.