Panthers on verge of taking series with 4-3 Double Overtime road win over the Wolves

March 4, 2020
Colwood, British Columbia

The Q Centre has not been kind to the Peninsula Panthers this season as they went into Game 4 of the best-of-7 Round 1 series Wednesday evening up 2-1. The Cats had played in the Wolves' home barn five times this season - four in the regular season and one in the playoffs - but had only one win to show for their efforts.  But a Tanner Wort snap shot 1:52 of Double Overtime emptied the Panthers' bench to join Wort in the celebration. The biggest goal in the series to date gave the Panthers a hard-fought 4-3 win and a commanding 3-1 series edge.  The Cats will have an opportunity to put the final nail in the coffin on Friday night in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre in front of what will most likely be a large and partisan crowd.

The two Clubs were like a couple of prize fighters early in the game but at the 18:55 mark of the initial stanza, Mackenzie Benn-Wipp beat Wolves' netminder Dalan Marleau from three feet out. Luke Pelletier got the puck to Wort to the left of Marleau and with a tricky play, he managed to get a puck on Marleau.  The rebound popped out to Benn-Wipp who pounded it to the back of the net for the only goal of the period.

Only 2:03 into the 2nd period and while on the power play, the Panthers lit the lamp again to take a 2-0 lead.  Benn-Wipp took a pass from Alex Benger coming out of his own end and he spotted Pelletier who was busting down the middle as he neared the Wolves' blueline.  Benn-Wipp hit Pelletier in stride and the lanky forward split the two defencemen and romped in all alone on an unprotected Marleau.  But the Wolves' goaltender was up to the task and he beat Pelletier only to have a fat and juicy rebound land on the stick of Denver Maloney.  Maloney ripped it into a yawning cage and it looked like the night might go the Panthers' way.  But Wolves Captain Ben Duffin had other ideas and at the 12:05 mark, he beat Panthers starter Connor McKillop to make it a one goal game at 2-1.

The 3rd stanza was a frantic one.  Lach Hadley knotted the score at 2-2 when he banged in a puck that was three feet in the air past McKillop to make it a 2-2 game.  The Wolves seemed to control much of the play and had several great scoring plays but could not get the go-ahead marker.  And at the 15:47 mark, Lucas Thomson-Fiddes pounded in a puck past Marleau for what looked like might have held up to be the winner.  Hunter Jensen and Pelletier picked up helpers on the play.  With under three minutes left in the game, Benn-Wipp gathered in a puck in his own zone on the half wall and skated into the neutral zone.  He spotted Wort on the left side and moved the puck but as he did Wort hit a rut in the ice and went down.  The puck went the length of the ice and was brought back into the Panthers zone on the icing call.  And the Wolves once again swarmed at the drop of the puck.  Benn-Wipp then slashed the stick out of the hands of a Wolves' forward and was quickly whistled and sent to the sin bin for two minutes.  It was a costly mistake as Hadley again found paydirt when he blew a shot past McKillop from a tough angle, one that seemed to surprise the Panthers stopper.

The two squads could not solve anything in regulation time but in the 1st overtime period, Panthers' Stefan Grunert was whistled for a five-minute penalty for head contact.  The Panthers killed off 4:07 of the Grunert penalty in the 1st overtime and another 53 seconds in the 2nd overtime period before Wort's heroics and the 4-3 win.  Grunert was handed down a three-game suspension by the VIJHL Brass after the game was in the books.

Head Coach Brad Tippett was pulled aside in a vacant dressing room at the Q Centre and had a few comments on the heart-stopper.

"Tonight there was a series of games within the game. The first six minutes we couldn’t carry the puck in a pail. We settled down and played a text book first period. We started the second very well and went up 2-0 however, the game turned a little scrambly with turnovers from both teams. We unnecessarily iced the puck and couldn’t get it out after the face off. The Wolves made it 2-1 and got a spark and started carrying the play. They tied it on another controversial goal but we re-took the lead with four minutes left in regulation. Again we turned the puck over just inside our own blue line and then knocked a stick out of a player's hand. They tied it late. We have given up 4 goals in the last two games - three of which we created with unforced turnovers. That needs to stop now."

The Cats threw 34 shots at Marleau while the Wolves had 31 opportunites on McKillop.  Hadley and Wort were selected the two game stars.

Both Clubs are now looking to Friday when the puck is set to drop at the Panorama Recreation Centre at 7:30 pm.  The Wolves will be looking to extend the series while the Panthers would love nothing more than to close it out on Friday.  A big crowd is expected to filter in for the game and fans are asked to arrive a bit early.