Panthers garner a point in pair of weekend games and cling to 1st place in South Division

Friday November 4, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers have been walking a tightrope for the past several weeks with a myriad of injuries and the flu and this past weekend the clock finally struck midnight and it left them on the side of the road without a ride. On Thursday night in Nanaimo the Cats blew a 2-0 3rd period lead and ultimately came out 2nd best in a 3-2 overtime loss.  And the following night back in the friendly confines of the Panorama, a red-hot Comox Valley Glacier Kings squad knocked off the Panthers 5-3 in an exciting end-to-end 60 minutes of action.  With the single point in the two games, the Club held onto the lead in the South Division but have the Victoria Cougars and Saanich Predators nipping at their heels.

"We have really been hit by injuries in the early going of this season," explained GM Pete Zubersky.  "It's unusual to have as many guys banged up as we do but then two weeks ago the flu bug invaded our dressing room and we have had the majority of our guys missing games or practices as well. It's an opportunity for other guys to step up and earn minutes and so that is the bright side to our dilemma.  On Friday night, our Coach Chris Driebergen was experimenting with some different line combinations based on the guys who were available and I saw some really good things.  Our season started out great with win after win.  And now we have had some adversity thrown in our path and it is a good time to build and show character. It's always easy when you win but you truly find a player's value when things are not going well.  We head to Saanich on Wednesday and then are back home on Friday against the Buccaneers and so we do not have a lot of time to get the ship headed in the right direction again.  We will be fine."

Panthers Tracks...The Panthers have the weekend off before hitting the ice for practice on Monday and Tuesday evenings...the game on Wednesday against the Predators will be the first time this season the two teams will have seen each other...the puck drops at 7:30 pm on Friday vs. the Bucs at the Panorama Recreation Centre.