Panthers teach Generals how to march to their beat, dropping the Visitors 4-3 in a tightly-played contest at the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night.

Zack Smith got to a loose puck just behind the Oceanside General net with only 4:36 left in the game but there was nowhere to go with it.  There were a lot of players from both squads in front and Oceanside Goaltender Keifer Giroux was coming across to take away a jam play that Smith might have had if he only had a couple more seconds.  And then Smith did the unthinkable, something that nobody else in the arena could see.  He fired the puck against Giroux as he moved to the strong side post and the puck took a Panthers bounce and right past Giroux into a yawning Generals cage.  The marker would prove to be the winner and it broke a 3-3 tie and sent the local crowd home happy listening to the tune, "Happy Trails" as they headed out the doors and to their vehicles.

The Panthers did not play exceptionally well on the evening, and if the truth be known, they got away with the win without bringing an effort which has been their trademark as of late.  But they did get the win on home ice on Friday night, albeit, it took Smith's marker very late in the game to get them over the hump.

The Generals opened the scoring midway through the first frame when Taylor Gray opened the scoring.  But with exactly one minute left in the period, Panthers Captain Patrick Croome got the equalizer on the power play when he blasted one from the point on assists from Cole Golka and Cody Breitenstein.  Gray would again light the lamp early in the 2nd and it would be Golka who would once again tie the game for the Cats with helpers from Dane Gibson and Kyle Richardson.  But Breitenstein coughed up the puck in the neutral zone right off the face-off after the goal and General Ethan Larson would romp in alone on Panthers starter Justin Samra and tuck it behind the deflated goaltender on a pretty move.  The two clubs exchanged several chances and went to the dressing room with the Panthers trailing 3-2.  Giroux was holding tough in goal for the Generals and just when it looked like he might not be beat again on the night, a blast from the point went just wide of the Generals net midway through the 3rd period and it would be fireplug Cody Allison who would be Johnny-on-the-spot pouncing on the rebound off the end boards and depositing it behind Giroux to knot the game yet again.  This would set the stage for Smith's winner which allowed the Panthers to move above the .500 mark with a 6-5 win/loss record.  Samra blocked 18 of 21 shots directed his way in collecting the win while Giroux stopped 21 of 25 and took the loss.

"I love to win, don't get me wrong," explained Pete Zubersky.  "Smitty knows how to put the puck in the net and there are not very many players in this league that could have scored that goal.  Smith has size, he can skate, he is the purest scorer on the team and he showed that tonight.  I want him to work harder on every shift and if he can find a way to do that, Junior B will not be the highest level he will achieve in hockey.  Great goal though - the kid knows how to put the puck in the net."

Zubersky had a few more comments after the win.  "We are heading to Comox tomorrow evening and they are the hottest team in the VIJHL right now, hotter than the Victoria Cougars.  The kind of effort that we had tonight is just not good enough.  I know that Rob Armstrong saw a couple kids that he thought did not play as hard as they need to and they most likely will be out of the lineup in Comox.  A player might not always score every night but I expect that they will work as hard as they can every night and I did not see that this evening.  I love the chemistry we have going right now and unlike most Junior teams, we have not made one roster move to date.  But I do expect maximum effort every night, these guys are young but that is not a hard concept to understand."

Panthers tracks....Golka was named the game's 1st star, Allison 2nd and Croome the 3rd star....Allison played his best game of his Junior Career as he handled the puck, made numerous slick plays and flew around the ice all night long....Several Panthers decided they did not have to put in a night's work but the club was lucky enough to squeek out the win....the club jumps on the bus tomorrow at 1:30 pm heading for Comox for a 7:30 pm start....Panthers trail Westshore by 2 points however have played two less games....Croome practiced twice this week with the Cowichan Capitals....Golka is starting to put some points on the board but threw some of the biggest hits on the night as well....Samra collected the win between the pipes and will probably get a couple more starts in the next week....Stephen Heslop is expected to get the start in Comox....

The Panthers head to Comox on Saturday, then up to Nanaimo to play the Buccaneers next Thursday before returning home next Friday to take on the Campbell River Storm with the puck set to drop at 7:30 p.m.