Panthers start season in 7th Heaven with 2-1 road win in Kerry Park

Tuesday September 27, 2022
Mill Bay, British Columbia

On what proved to be a warm evening in late September, the Peninsula Panthers winded up over the Malahat Drive to take on the Kerry Park Islanders in Mill Bay.  The Islanders were coming off a hard-fought win over the Oceanside Generals while the Cats had opened their season reeling off six straight wins and looking for number seven.  The parking lot was empty for the most part and as the team wandered through the front entrance towards the ice surface, there were a small number of figure skaters out working at their trade.  There was nothing unusual as the minutes clicked along towards the 7:30 pm scheduled start.

The puck dropped for real after the introduction of the Islanders starting lineup and the customary playing of the National Anthem and from the opening faceoff, the Panthers seemed to take control.  But 12-13 minutes into the game neither team had yet to score and the game had settled in to be a back and forth and mostly evenly played affair.  Eric Young started in goal for the Islanders while the Cats countered with Brady Kelly and in short, both goaltenders were nothing short of outstanding on the night.  

At the 9:04 mark of the middle frame, an Islanders player burst through the neutral zone but a nice effort from Payton Braun on the backcheck resulted in some contact at the Panthers' blueline.  The puck bounced off Braun's skate as he made the hit and bounced to Ryan Grambart and Tanner Banks who went on a 2-on-1 at top speed on Young.  Banks waited for the perfect moment to dish off to Grambart who was coming down Main Street and Grambart banged a one-timer on the fly past Young for the opening goal of the game.  Although both Clubs exchanged some brilliant opportunities, the two stoppers stood tall and there was no further scoring.

It would be the Islanders who would knot the score at the 14:32 mark of the final stanza on what was clearly a mistake by a Cats forward on a weak backchecking effort.  An Islanders forward romped down the right side on a 3-on-3 effort however Theodore St-Denis took him out with a clean body check on the wall.  But Lukas Tokic picked up the loose puck as Panthers left winger Zach Warren simply stopped skating.  And this mistake allowed Tokic to romp to the net with Warren trying to get his feet moving to get back in the play.  Tokic came right in tight on Kelly and beat the Panthers' netminder from 6 feet out to tie the game at 1-1.  Ninety-five seconds later and with only 4:03 remaining in the contest, Cats' Captain Matt Seale gathered in a loose puck just inside the Panthers zone and sent a long pass down the left side to Grambart.  Braun was following up on the play and a little give-and-go between Braun and Grambart made it possible for Grambart to get to the net.  Young stopped him on the first attempt but Grambart rammed home the rebound from 18 inches to vault the Cats right back into the lead.  The Islanders yanked Young in the last minute of play in hopes of getting the equalizer but nothing materialzied for them in the way of a marker and the game ended with the visitors on top at 2-1.

"Our goaltending was outstanding over the evening, actually both guys played great," quipped Panthers GM Pete Zubersky. "The game could have gone either way and we were fortunate to come out with the two points.  I hated the goal we gave up.  We have talked about backchecking with effort and with a purpose and on the goal we gave up we had neither.  We gave up a similar goal last Saturday against Campbell River when Ethan Warnes did not take his man.  On that one at least he worked hard but again there was no purpose.  Those were both one-goal games and if we don't clean this up it will cost us at some point.  Guys come out of Midget and programs can vary a lot.  Our Organization puts a lot of stock in working hard and working smart.  The goal we gave up tonight should not have happened and it really could have cost us the win.  I'm sure our Coach will address this to the Club before we face a red-hot Port Alberni Bombers Club Friday in our barn when the puck drops at 7:30 pm.

Panthers Tracks...The Kelly twins continue to shine between the pipes with Brady winning all 4 of his starts and Mason winning all 3 of his...both have eye-popping save %'s...Cats scratched four regulars on Tuesday night due to an array of injuries including Reid Fryer, Robson Scott, Malcolm Fletcher and Spencer Cotie...all four will be out of action this Friday...forward Brad Bates was brought up from the Peninsula Midget Tier 2 Club and played a very solid game...he will be back in the lineup this Friday against the Bombers...Braun has been running ragged over the past month...he has a big load at the University of Victoria, his commitment with the Panthers and has also been traveling extensively throughout the United States interviewing with Universities for entrance to a top-end Dental Program...Banks leads the VIJHL in scoring after 7 games...