Braun smashes two more records, Grambart notches hat trick in 8-2 win over Kraken

December 5, 2021
Lake Cowichan, B.C.

There was certainly a lot to dissect and discuss as the final buzzer sounded to end the contest between the visiting Peninsula Panthers and Lake Cowichan Kraken at the Lake Cowichan Arena sometime around 7:45 pm on an overcast Sunday evening, and with the threat of snow sounding as loudly as the buzzer.

The Panthers seemed somewhat sluggish to open the contest and when Hunter Jensen recieved a double-minor early in the initial stanza, the Club was put on its collective heals right off the bat.  And it was Kraken's Kellan Brienan who would make sure early that Panthers' starter Brady Kelly would not be taking home a goose egg in his first and only visit to the Lake this 2021/22 season.  Brienan gathered in a puck at Panthers' blueline and after waltzing halfway across the ice and clear of Panthers would-be shot blockers, he fired the disk through a maze of players that beat Kelly, a shot that he clearly did not see.  Several minutes later it was the Panthers turn to go on an extended 4-minute power play and the Cats wasted absolutely no time in hitting paydirt - twice.  At the 16:44 mark, Matt Seale found himself at the top near the blueline and spotted Logan Speirs low and just to the left of Kraken netminder Josh Robbins.  Speirs gathered in the pass and moved it quickly to Braun on the faceoff dot and his bullet beat Robbins to knot the score at 1-1.  The 2nd power play unit rolled over the boards for the Panthers and less than a minute later, they too hit paydirt. Jensen looking to atone for his earlier sin ripped a shot past Robbins from the point to give his squad the lead for the first time in the game.  Although he did not garner a point on Jensen's marker, 160-pound rookie forward Tristan Rosenblood was instrumental in the success of the play as he stood directly in front of Robbins and for all intents and purposes completely took away the stopper's eyes.  There were a couple more chances before the initial 20 minutes were in the books, but the score held at 2-1.

The crowd of 168 began to murmur about the fact that Braun had broken the Panthers All-time games mark on the evening as he played in his 186th game moving him past former Captain Thomas Spink at 185.  And with his 1st period goal, Braun sat only one point behind Daniel Bell's career mark for points at 246 with the Franchise and that certainly was destined to fall at some point relatively soon.  Braun had already passed Bell for All-time assists going into Sunday's match and he undoubtedly will be putting a lot of distance between the two over the balance of the season.

At the 1:41 mark of the 2nd stanza, Jensen broke up a Kraken rush just inside his own blueline and romped back through the neutral zone and into the Kraken end of the ice.  At the top of the circle to the right of Robbins he spotted Ryan Grambart who was speeding right down Main Street.  Jensen hit him in stride and Grambart wasted no time once the puck hit his tape releasing a quick low shot low to the glove side.  The shot seemed to surprise the Kraken netminder and it beat him clean to open up a 3-1 Panthers lead.  At the 4:10 mark, it was time for Braun to join Bell at the top of the All-time points rung as he garnered an assist on a marker off the stick of his brother Payton.  Riley moved up the wall towards the blueline and the spun and fired a pass down low to Speirs.  The 20-year-old - who currently sits in 2nd place in VIJHL scoring only behnd Riley - gathered in the pass and immediately sent it to Payton who was in a crowded low slot 11 feet from the Kraken net.  Payton simply willed the puck past Robbins to open up a 4-1 lead and to vault his older brother into a tie with Bell. Like around 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve, the Turkey was not quite cooked but it was smelling real good!

The two teams headed to their respective dressing rooms with the visitors seemingly close to putting a stranglehold on the game.  The Kraken were playing their 3rd game in as many nights and had travelled back from Comox late Saturday night after a tilt with the Glacier Kings and it looked like their tank was getting close to hitting the E at the bottom of the guage.  A good team will take advantage of a situation like this and the Panthers had plans to put their foot on the throat of a Kraken - a legendary sea monster of gigantic size.  And in the final stanza, they did exactly that.

Grambart collected his 2nd marker of the night at the 11:59 mark and then out rolled the line of Speirs, Braun and Braun.  Their ice had been limited on the evening and this would prove to be their last shift of the evening, albeit, it was a very short one - 10 seconds to be exact.  Speirs won the draw and the puck was moved back to the defensive pairing of Reid Fryer and Evan Crawford.  The puck went D to D and then quickly up to Riley Braun who was streaking through the neutral zone towards the Kraken blueline.  Braun picked up the pass in stride and went in all alone on Robbins and from 9 feet out, placed a perfect shot over his left shoulder that caught nothing but twine.  The Panthers fivesome celebrated the record-breaking goal however the puck was shot unceremoniously down the ice.  Panthers' Davey Moody hopped over the wall and quickly gobbled up the piece of rubber for the new record holder and then the entire team congratulated Braun as he returned to the bench.

With two more Franchise records in the back pocket and with a 6-1 lead with just under eight minutes left, the only thing that remained to see was what the final score might be.  At the 12:51 mark, Kraken's Rowan Zapisocki forced a turnover at his own blueline and raced in all alone on Kelly for the Kraken's 2nd tally of the night.  But then it was the Cats time once again.   At the 15:12 mark, Grambart ripped a shot to the top of the cage behind Robbins to pop the water bottle and the cork on his hat trick for a 7-2 lead and a minute later Denver Maloney cleared the Panthers' zone chipping the puck off the wall to a speeding Grant Gilbertson.  The skilled centreman dished it back to Aleko Sdrakas in the high slot and he made what was probably the shot of the night blowing a high shot over the right shoulder of Robbins to close the scoring and putting a cap on what was a dominant effort.

Owner Pete Zubersky spoke to the media immediately following the game near the Panthers' dressing room.  "We didn't go into the room and talk about the accomplishments which happened this evening," explained Zubersky.  "With the threat of snow, we really wanted to get out of Dodge and the message at the end of the game was let's get going.  There will be a lot of time on the bus ride home to discuss what has happened this evening.  I really tip my hat to Riley.  What a career and we will have more time to really digest and celebrate his accomplishments over the next few months.  A lot was lost in the excitement of the two records being broken.  Speirs continued his points streak and it now sits at 32 having got at least a point in every game we have played in this year.  And Grambart was great tonight as was every single guy who suited up.  Grambart can score, he just hadn't done it prior to tonight.  He had one goal coming in and his three tonight showed just how good this kid can be.  Coach Len Dawes was saying on the bus ride up here that we need secondary scoring other than from our big line - and we got it tonight.  Guys were in the shot lanes blocking shots.  Our speed is devastating and it was on full display this evening.  We got into the dirty areas in front of Robbins, I loved the effort and the willingness."

With his two goals on the evening, Braun now clocks in with 93 career markers and is 10 shy of Bell's All-time Franchise mark of 103.  It looks as though there may still be a lot to dissect and discuss over the Panthers' remaining 20 games in this Regular Season.

The Club hits the ice next Friday night at 7:30 pm in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre when they play host to the Victoria Cougars.  A sizeable crowd is expected in what is still one of the VIJHL's best rivalries.