With pair of weekend wins, Panthers take 3-1 series lead vs. Islanders

March 12, 2022

Going into the weekend pair of games, the Peninsula Panthers Organization knew the outcomes were crucial.  The Panthers and Kerry Park Islanders were deadlocked at 1-1 in their best-of-7 series and unquestionably something had to give.  In front of a sizeable Friday night home crowd in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre, the Club bested the Islanders 4-2 with a couple late 3rd period markers and then followed exactly the same script on Saturday evening on the road in Mill Bay coming out with an identical 4-2 win.  And with the two important wins in the books, the Club has an opportunity to end the series this coming Friday night in front of what should be a large, loud and excited home crowd.

Panthers Payton Braun, Kyle Brown, Owen Cox and Logan Speirs tallied for the Cats on Friday night while Matt Baird and Mateo Sjoberg replied for the Islanders.  It was Cox who would be awarded with the winner when he worked hard in the corner to the right of his goaltender Ashton Lukan.  Cox won the puck battle and then promptly skated the length of the ice down the right side before putting a snapshot past Islanders netminder Dryden Demelo with just over four minutes having been played in the final stanza.  Speirs added a power play marker midway through the 3rd and then the Panthers locked the game down the rest of the way.  Gritty 20-year-old Jackson Egan and Speirs were awarded Players of the Game for their respective squads.  Demelo was tagged for the loss, blocking 31 of 35 Panthers scoring attempts while Lukan was a hair better stopping 31 of 33 in collecting the win.

The same author must have scripted the game on Saturday as the contest played out eerily the same way.  Aleko Sdrakas outraced an Islanders defenceman and then beat Demelo midway through the first stanza to open the scoring and Payton Braun bumped the score to 2-0 when he tallied on the power play for the Panthers.  But Reid Fitzpatrick and Brady Estabrook each beat Lukan in the middle period to knot the score at 2-2 and set the stage for the all-important final 20 minutes.  At the 1:42 mark, the Panthers dumped the puck deep and behind the Islanders net and Demelo went behind the cage to play it.  The puck somehow bumped out in front to Cox who was cruising in to forecheck and he tossed it to the back of the mesh from two feet out for what would once again prove to be the winner, his 2nd winner in two nights.  And midway through the frame, the Panthers went on the power play and this time it was Matt Seale who took a snapshot from the high slot to beat a screened Demelo.  Payton Braun's positioning in front of the Islanders net was a crucial part of the Seale goal and although he did not get a point on the marker, it was his willingness to screen the goaltender that ultimately resulted in the insurance marker.

Lukan picked up his 2nd win in as many night taking care of 36 of 38 pucks sent his way by the Islanders while Demelo once again was collared with the loss blocking 29 of 33 Panthers shots.  Sjoberg and Payton Braun were awarded with Players of the Game in the contest.

With a 3-1 lead in the series, Panthers General Manager Pete Zubersky is more aware than anyone that this series is far from over.  "The games have all been close and a bounce here or a bounce there could have made a big difference.  We totally respect the Islanders Club and while we are now in a position to end the series, the final win is always the toughest.  It was a happy but sober group in our dressing room after the game on Saturday and we are all looking forward to Game 5 in this series."

The setting will now return to the Panorama at 7:30 pm on Friday night.  The Panthers Organization is asking that you arrive a bit early for the contest to ensure you get into the arena on time as a large crowd is expected.