Wolves knock off Panthers 4-2 at home in Game 2 to knot series at 1-1

February 26, 2020
Colwood, British Columbia

Human nature is a peculiar thing. Almost everyone wants everything but most are not willing to pay the full price if it is not required.  Count the Peninsula Panthers in that group after a lackluster 3rd period performance handed the Westshore Wolves a 4-2 win.  And with the victory at the Q Centre in Colwood the Wolves managed to knot the best-of-7 series at 1-1 and set the stage for what looks like it will be a battle Friday night back at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  

The Panthers opened the scoring in the 1st stanza while on the power play when defenceman Alex Benger sent a blast past Dalan Marleau.  Mackenzie Benn-Wipp who had been sidelined due to a suspension in Game 1 drew an assist on the goal, the only marker in the first 20 minutes.  Although the Panthers outshot the Wolves by a 12-6 margin, it was clearly the Wolves who had the more quality scoring chances and were probably unlucky not to have potted a goal or two.

At the 3:01 mark of the middle stanza Logan Speirs game the visitors a 2-0 lead after Denver Maloney packed the puck down the left side and deep into the Wolves zone.  He took a shot that deflected off the pads of linemate Lucas Thomson-Fiddes and right onto the stick of Speirs who shot one past a startled Marleau.  But the Wolves Ben Duffin answered at the 11:48 mark when he blew down the left side past Benger and rifled a shot to the far post that cleanly beat Panthers starter Andrew Rocha.

It was all Wolves in the final period.  Tristan Jones, Caleb Parkhouse and Jones again late beat Rocha to seal the win.

But perhaps the biggest play of the game might have been a missed goal that Drew Coughlin scored while on the penalty kill with just over four minutes left in the 3rd period.  Coughlin broke in all alone on Marleau and took a backhand shot that clearly beat the Wolves netminder.  The puck appeared to be right in the middle of the net and 10-12 inches under the crossbar.  It bounced out and play continued.  The disallowed goal would have knotted the game at 3-3 and certainly could have changed the complexion of the affair.

Marleau picked up the win knocking down 25 of 27 shots while Rocha took the lost and was good on 22 of 26 shots.

Head Coach Brad Tippett shared his thoughts on the game after the final horn had sounded.

"There is an old saying that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. In our series we have two talented teams - so therefore the game should be decided by which team works harder. That theory has been proven correct twice this week. Monday we wanted to get the puck , got to the net, backchecked hard and we won the game. Tonight they wanted it more and they won the game. Hypothesis confirmed.The 2-0 lead was a little misleading as Rocha stoned them on 3 or 4 quality chances including two breakaways. It’s down to a best of five. We need better effort, better focus, better decisions and some luck around the net. The harder you work the luckier you get."

The two Clubs will head to a crucial Game 3 back on the Peninsula on Friday night, the puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm.  Fans are asked to arrive just a bit early.