Panthers bounce the Bombers 5-1

October 25, 2023 
Alberni Valley Multiplex
Port Alberni, British Columbia
Article by Will Bryant
 
The Peninsula Panthers got back into the win column Wednesday night with a 5-1 victory over the Port Alberni Bombers.
 
The Panthers got off to what has been alluding them to open the year – a hot start.
 
Peninsula opened the scoring just over a minute into the game after Ryan Grambart stole a pass at the Bombers blueline where he was able to find Carson Harris alone in the slot who wristed one by the Bombers netminder Kuhnline.
 
The Cats didn’t rest on their laurels, keeping their foot on the gas and they were rewarded for their efforts.
 
Panthers Forward Ben Swan rescued the puck from his own blueline and went coast-to-coast before centering a pass onto the tape of Lucas Preweda who wired it home for the Panthers 2^nd of the frame.
 
The game was unfolding just as the Panthers had hoped, but a Panthers' penalty injected life into the dejected Bombers squad and the Panthers couldn’t seem to re-find their footing following the Penalty Kill.
 
Port Alberni answered back poking home a rebound off a point shot through traffic to shrink the Panthers lead back down to a goal just past the halfway mark of the opening frame.
 
“Getting two goals in the first 5:00 was fantastic, but from there we’ve got to keep the pedal down,” said Panther bench boss Tyler Stanton.
 
Leading 2-1 through a period, the Panthers and Bombers floundered throughout the 2^nd period trading man advantages and 4-on-4 play.

“The 2^nd period was all special teams, lots of 4-on-4, lots of 5-on-4, lots of PK stuff.  Again, our guys did a very good job on the PK. We couldn’t generate on the Powerplay, but our puck movement was fairly good. 4-on-4 Harry (Harris) was able to get another so that was nice”, said Stanton.
 
Harris would restore the Panthers two-goal lead amid 4-on-4 action 8:27 into the 2^nd, ringing a wrister off the back iron to put the Panthers up 3-1.
 
After the Panthers restored their lead, Port Alberni would get two opportunities on the man advantage to respond, but the Panthers PK stood tall, and the Cats took their 3-1 lead into the final frame.
 
The 3^rd period was undoubtedly the most physical of them all.  The Bombers put the Panthers on their heels early in the frame, but Peninsula was able to stand tall and weather the barrage from the Bomb squad, taking licks and bruises along the way.
 
Harris, and Jason Sekulich both had their nights ended early halfway through the 3^rd following collisions with members of the Bombers.
 
“We seemed to win every puck battle and that frustrated them”, Stanton said regarding the physical 3^rd period approach of the Bombers.
 
“We didn’t back down, guys stood up. We protected our net, protected our goalie, and protected ourselves”, added Stanton.
 
The Panthers would put a bow on the game late in the 3^rd with back-to-back Powerplay goals.
 
Julien Phillips would lift a wrist shot short-side past a screened Kuhnline to extend the Panthers lead to 3, while Preweda would score his 2^nd of the night on a near identical shot 38 seconds later to put the Cats up 4.
 
“It was Preweda’s first game back up the middle; he played very effective up the middle last year and was every bit effective tonight”, quipped Stanton.
 
The Panthers have Thursday off before hosting the defending league champions, Oceanside Generals Friday night - puck drops at 7:30 pm - and closing out the month Saturday up in Comox.