McKillop posts VIJHL best 25th win posting 6-0 shutout over the visiting Kerry Park Islanders

January 31, 2020
North Saanich, B.C.

The Peninsula Panthers rattled off their 31st win of the season downing the visiting Kerry Park Islanders 6-0 in the process.  Knocking down the goals against was an important ingredient for Coach Brad Tippett, his staff and his troops and with a solid effort between the pipes by veteran Connor McKillop the Club was able to do just that.

Tippett spoke to media after the game and passed along his thoughts just minutes after addressing his squad.

"All the coaches were very pleased with the attention to detail on the defensive side tonight. We had everyone doing a lot of the little things that good teams do ALL the time - taking puck cleanly on the wall, back-checking, blocking shots, making safer plays etc.  All the lines chipped in, our defence were hard to play against and our goaltending was solid. We got through with basically no addition injuries. A couple of veterans in Taylor and Horricks got an extra couple days out of the lineup decreasing the risk of re-injuring.  They are both on the verge of returning to game action."

Many of the local fans showed up to see the line of Josh Lingard, Tanner Wort and Riley Braun continue their scoring assault at the top of the VIJHL ladder and they did not disappoint.  Just 32 seconds after the puck dropped to open the game, the trio found themselves unselfishly moving the puck deep in the Islanders' zone.  Wort move the puck cross ice to Braun who snapped a pass to Lingard waiting on the left post beside Islanders' starter Spencer Deakin.  And the puck arrived on target and on time and Lingard made no mistake as he smashed the disk to the back of the net.  That goal would prove to be the winner.

Denver Maloney added to the lead with just over a minute left in the 1st frame when he snapped a high shot past Deakin.  Logan Speirs and Hunter Jensen were awarded helpers on the play.  Maloney would not factor in the scoring the rest of the way but it was not for lack of trying. For much of the game he looked like the best forward on the ice for either team and played hard both in the defensive and offensive ends of the ice.  The two squads headed to the 1st intermission with the Panthers holding a well-deserved 2-0 lead.

7:56 of the 2nd period would see Panthers' top line strike again.  Braun managed to get the puck to Wort only four feet in front of Deakin and there did not appear to be a pathway past the goaltender to paydirt.  But Wort found the answer when he sent a shot over the stopper's shoulder to the back of the twine.  It was Wort's VIJHL's leading 37th goal of the season.  He leads the VIJHL in overall scoring with 78 points and does not appear to be slowing down.  

The Panthers waited until the final stanza to put the game out of reach.  Midway through the period, Drew Coughlin moved the disk to Skyler Diamond-Burchuk at the point and he quickly passed it down the wall only 10 feet from the goal line.  Luc Pelletier one-timed the puck towards the net and it flew like it had 20/20 vision beating a shocked Deakin.  And Pelletier added yet another marker five minutes later after a setup from Coughlin and Aiden Craig-Steele.  Lingard would close out the scoring at the 16:46 mark with helpers on the play coming from Braun and Spink.

McKillop was better than solid over the 60 minutes in collecting his 25th win of the year and putting up a reminder that he should be a front-runner for the VIJHL Unsung Hero Award.  He stopped all 20 shots directed his way and picked up the Player of the Game for the Panthers.  In the other end, Deakin was collared with the loss however was outstanding at times in stopping 44 of 50 shots.

"Coach had a focus on playoff hockey this week," quipped GM Pete Zubersky.  "I was talking to Braun a couple days ago and he gets it.  He was saying that we have to simplify our game, we have to get our goals-against down and we had a good discussion about that. There was one time where one of their forwards got behind our defence but was offside.  We will keep working on cutting down mistakes.  In the playoffs, games are won 2-1 and 3-2 and not 8-6.  I like what we are doing right now.  We need every single player to buy in, tonight we had that."

The Panthers are in Esquimalt on Sunday afternoon to take on the Victoria Cougars and will be right back in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre Friday night when they will host the Cougars.  The two Clubs are in a cat fight for 1st place overall in the VIJHL and a large crowd is expected on Friday night with the puck set to drop at 7:30 pm.