Panthers draw first blood with 6-1 win over the Kerry Park Islanders Saturday night in Mill Bay

Saturday, March 5, 2022
Mill Bay, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers drew first blood on Saturday night, downing the Kerry Park Islanders up in Mill Bay by a 6-1 count.  Game 2 is now set to go Monday night at 7:30 pm in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.

The Panthers opened up an early 3-0 1st period lead in Game 1 and never looked back.  Riley Braun opened the scoring midway through the frame and the Cats extended the lead late in the stanza on two power play markers coming off the sticks of Ryan Grambart and Braun with his second of the evening.

Kellan Bates narrowed the score to 3-1 early in the 2nd period and the Islanders threatened further, but could not get any closer on the scoreboard.  And then with just under two minutes remaining before the intermission, an Islanders player inadvertently shot the puck into his own cage to give the Panthers their three-goal margin once again.

The Cats extended their lead for their 3rd power play tally in the game to lengthen their lead to 5-1 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest, this marker off the stick of Kyle Brown.  And Tanner Banks scored as the minutes dwindled down to put a cap on the evening.

"The 6-1 score is quite deceptive and the game was much closer than that," explained Panthers GM Pete Zubersky.  "The Islanders put on a full-court press in the 2nd period and had some tough luck and that allowed us to get a comfortable lead.  This is just one game and both squads know that."

Dryden Demelo stopped 23 of 29 shots and was tagged for his first loss of the post-season after racking up four straight wins against the Victoria Cougars in Round 1.  And Ashton Lukan continued to stop the disk, turning aside 31 of 32 Islanders shots along the way.  Braun and Bates were selected as the Game Stars for the respective sides.

The scene will now switch to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre on Monday night.  Game 3 will also be at the Panorama on Friday night, both games set to go at 7:30 pm.