Panthers sweep weekend with wins over the Generals and Glacier Kings

Saturday, October 28, 2023
Comox Valley Sports Centre
Comox, British Columbia

A banged up and bruised Peninsula Panthers Hockey Club still have enough bite within their collective group to put forth two gutty performances, both which culminated in wins this past weekend.

The Panthers started the week off on the wrong foot a week ago in Saanich on a Sunday afternoon test and were simply dominated for the duration of the game.  The Cats did not seem to be ready to compete while the Predators came in to the contest looking to garner two points and they were certainly full value on their home ice win.

"This was the 2nd game this season where I thought we simply were not ready to win a hockey game," explained Panthers owner Pete Zubersky.  

"When the score reached 5-1 early in the 3rd period, I was actually hoping that they would run it up on us and they did.  I did not want us to score a couple late goals and make it close and then go into the dressing room thinking that it was not that bad.  Our effort and compete level were terrible.  I think we have a good Club but there are a lot of other good Clubs in this League and if we don't feel like we want or need to compete we will come out 2nd best. The result was a chance for our group to do some soul-searching."

The Panthers responded with a 5-1 win on Wednesday evening in Port Alberni however the victory came with a price with two 3rd period injuries.  Carson Harris and Jason Sekulich were both banged up and did not finish the game and will most likely be out for a number of games testing the depth of the squad.  Veteran Tristan Rosenblood did not dress due to being a bit under the weather and will be evaluated this coming week.

The Panthers faced a huge test on Friday night when the defending VIJHL Champions Oceanside Generals came in for a visit to the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre. The Generals had some issues with traffic through the Duncan area and arrived a bit later than they would have liked, but this did not seem to take a toll with any stretch of the imagination.  When the puck dropped, it was all Generals and although the visitors led by only a goal at 1-0 after 20 minutes of play were in the books, they had outshot the locals by a large 18-4 count.

Lukas Preweda knotted the score on the power play when he took perhaps the nicest pass of the season off the stick of Malcolm Fletcher and banged it in from 18 inches to light up the crowd.  And he scored again early in the final stanza to put his Club into the lead for the first time in the contest.  Silas Currie was simply outstanding between the pipes all night long but with 41 ticks remaining in the contest and with the Generals on the power play and with their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, they peppered Currie with several chances.  And the persistance of the visitors finally paid off with the last-minute goal to force an extra frame.

With just two minutes left in overtime the Cats were whistled for a penalty and it sent the Generals on a 4-3 powerplay.  Again, Currie was the difference on a couple huge stops.  With a minute left, the Generals decided to yank their goaltender for an extra attacker setting up a 5-3 power play in the Panthers end.  The play was frantic and with 14 seconds left, Ethan Lingard sacrificed his body by diving into a point blank range shot.  The disk bounced out to Rowan Cairns who lugged it out over the blueline and then took the opportunity to shoot onto the vacated Generals cage. It was a risk-free shot being short-handed at the time.  The shot went to the heart of the net and the bench of the Panthers spilled over the wall to join in the celebration with Cairns.  Every single fan also had leapt out of their seats, the 3-2 Overtime short-handed, empty net game winner ending to an amazing game was perfect for the Panthers and was electric.

Once again the win exacted a price from the Club.  Reid Fryer had to be helped to the dressing room in the 3rd period and he too is expected to be out for a number of games.

The Club boarded the Iron Lung for Comox with an evening date with the Glacier Kings.  The bus arrived and the players walked into the rink down a number of bodies including Fryer, Rosenblood, Harris and Sekulich.  And early in the first period, Fletcher took a hit and seemed to suffer a lower body injury.  He attempted to go in the middle frame but was unable to skate effectively and he headed to the showers.

Perhaps it was lessons learned in the 8-1 shellacking at the hands of the Predators almost a week earlier but a gritty and determined effort played out on the ice over the full 60 minutes.  It was Tanner Ferrill's turn to stand on his head between the pipes and Ryan Grambart's three markers were all that the visitors would need in posting a workmanlike 3-1 win.

"I really enjoyed the weekend," mused Zubersky. "I saw some things that I was waiting to see this season. We cleared pucks out of our end except for perhaps the Generals first goal Friday night. We had guys in shot lanes for both games.  You can always tell if a team wants to win, if they are committed when you see blocked shots. We finally saw that. Our coaching staff has been talking about this a lot as of late and this weekend it paid off. I like where we are right now. Our goaltending has really settled in and we are getting a chance to win each night. Rosenblood will be back next weekend and I would think that Fletcher will be close.  The season is always a grind and this weekend we found a way to grind out a couple of wins.  That was fun."

The tunes blasted out from the Cats dressing room Saturday night as the players enjoyed the win. The bus was then loaded and as is customary, a big feed of Chinese food was enjoyed by all as the Iron Lung headed for points South. It was a good weekend.

The Panthers have a somewhat unusual schedule this coming weekend.  They will travel to the Westshore to take on the Wolves on Friday but will be back home Saturday night at 7:30 pm when the Campbell River Storm come blowing in.  The games continue to be important and do not get any easier.