Panthers claw Cougars 3-2 in Home Opener

October 2nd, 2020
North Saanich, B.C.

It did not take long for the 'Home cookin' to start tasting good as the Peninsula Panthers downed the visiting Victoria Cougars by a 3-2 count.  Goaltender Connor Svienson, making his first start between the pipes for the Panthers after being obtained in a trade with the Saanich Braves, was the better of the two goaltenders and picked up the win blocking 25 of 27 shots.  Cougars' starting netminder Fraser Wyatt was solid between the pipes for the visitors stopping 22 of 25 shots and was collared for the loss.  The two goalies were named the Player of the Game for their respective sides for their efforts.

The Panthers started quickly and dominated the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes were firmly in the books on a goal by sniper Josh Lingard.  Lingard moved the puck to Tanner Wort and then darted to open ice in front of Wyatt where he immediately received a return feed from Wort.  Lingard made no mistake with only 3:21 left in the frame.

It was the Cougars' turn to dominate the game and the 2nd stanza was clearly theirs.  They were rewarded for the only marker of the period when at the 9:23 mark, Spencer Golden hit paydirt behind Svienson.  Both goaltenders made some key saves before the period would end with the score knotted at 1-1 after 40 minutes.

The visitors pulled ahead only 4:13 into the 3rd period on one of the most interesting sequences of the game.  The Panthers were on the Power Play and were having their way in the Cougars' end.  At one point, pretty well everyone in the rink thought that they had scored to go ahead however the Cougars broke out of their zone and Tory McClintick hit Zach Guerra with a stretch pass well behind the Panthers defence.  Guerra went in alone on Svienson and would make no mistake snapping a shot past the stopper.  But the Panthers responded quickly just a little over a minute later.  Rookies Tanner Banks and Grant Gilbertson tick-tacked the puck through the neutral zone and brought it to the front of the Cougars net in front of Wyatt.  And it would be Lucas Thomson-Fiddes who would finish on a shot past the goaltender to knot the game yet again, this time at 2-2.  The Panthers were not done.  The locals hit the power play again and after some nice puck movement in the offensive end and with just six minutes to go, Logan Speirs and Riley Braun teamed up to put the puck on the stick of Captain Tanner Wort.  Wort was Wort, ripping a shot past Wyatt into the yawning cage to give his side a 3-2 lead.  The goal would prove to be the winner.

Brad Tippett commented on the game:
"We have played 6 periods against the Cougars in the last 27 hours. We have seen superb goaltending by four different goaltenders and watched some crafty veterans set the bar on how to find success. We saw six pretty good periods of hockey and a couple games that could have gone either way.
 
Drilling down to our performance here are some random thoughts - we have seen a little bit of everything. Some great efforts, some positive surprises, some over-confidence, some identity crisis, some poise, some panic, some commitment, some cheating on effort.  We have played no contact and shinny for so long it has become the norm for some guys.  Trying to do too much, trying to make plays when there isn’t one available.  Trying to be pond hockey fancy players.  Trying to take shortcuts.  Arriving just in time to be late.  Passing pucks in skates and not on the tape.  Players not being ready - watching the play.  Some very selfish and unwise penalties.  The faster we get back to real hockey, the better.  I think we might change the structure of practice on Monday.  It has been tough because the logistics of having a team meeting is difficult simply because of finding a place where we can properly practice social distancing.  It’s a good start for a young team.  We just need to keep getting better each day."

The Panthers will travel to Archie Browning next Thursday night and then will be back at home again next Friday for another home-and-home series against their biggest rival, the Victoria Cougars.  This is an unusual schedule in unusual times.  But the intensity clearly remains the same as it always has been and that is not unusual or unexpected.