Gibson guides Panthers through a Storm

Dane Gibson is starting to hit his stride and his stamp on the Peninsula Panthers game on Friday evening at the Panorama Recreation Centre was exactly what the good old Doctor ordered.  In what was once again a heart-stopping affair against the Campbell River Storm and in a game that went back and forth more often than windshield wipers in a torrid rain, it was the home town "Cats" that would prevail in regulation time with a 4-3 victory.  And it was once again Gibson who lead the way with a goal and two assists to move his season point total to 25.

Smooth and silky Cole Glover opened the scoring in the game at the 17:03 mark when he lobbed one past Storm netminder Jordan Salas, helpers on the play dished out to Reece Costain and Connor Logan.  Although both squads had several chances in the entertaining 1st period, Glover's tally would be the only goal of the period and sent the teams to their dressing rooms with the Panthers clinging to a one-goal lead. 

But the lead would not hold up for long as Alex Benjestdorf of the Storm collected the only two goals of the 2nd period.  He first beat Panthers Stephen Heslop who had the start between the pipes at the 4:15 mark and then to throw some salt in the wound, added a second goal three minutes and one second later to give the visitors a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes were in the books.

Gibson would have the answer however and Panthers fans would not have to wait very long once the 3rd period had started, 6:19 to be exact when he put a slick shot past Salas on assists from Josh Adkins and Spencer Loverock.  It looked like the game was going to head to an extra frame but with just over two minutes remaining in the game a hard-working Panthers shift kept the Storm under wraps in their own end.  The puck was moved back to the point where Panthers Captain Patrick Croome absolutely hammered a blast that ripped into the Storm and past Salas for a 3-2 lead.  Loverock and Gibson hit the scoresheet on the goal.  With just over one minute to play the Storm pulled Salas and on this evening it was the right thing to do.  The Storm pressured the Panthers in their end and when one of the defencemen made a cross ice pass rather than just dump the puck out along the boards, the Storm attackers were there to intercept the clearing attempt and took the air out of the Panthers balloon when Joel Smith tied the game with only 37 seconds left regulation time.  But the whole story had yet to be told.  Right off the ensuing faceoff the line of Gibson, Adkins and Costain moved the puck right into the Storm end.  The trio battled down low cycling the puck in the corner several times before it was moved to Adkins who was just to the right of Salas.  And when he managed to beat Salas with only 18 seconds left, the Panthers bench and stands errupted.  The whole story was now complete and the Panthers once again left the Storm leaving the ice shaking their heads.  Gibson and Grayson Vickers were awarded assists on Adkins game-winning goal.

Heslop blocked 19 of 22 shots the Storm threw at him while Salas was the busier of the two blocking 29 of 33 Panthers attempts. 

The Panthers have a week of practice before they see their next action at home on Friday when they will face off against the North Division leading Comox Valley Glacier Kings with the puck set to drop at the usual 7:30 pm.  It will be the last trip in for the visitors.  And then next Sunday, the squad will head up to Oceanside to face a Generals Club for an afternoon affair.

Panthers Tracks....after stinking the Bear Mountain Arena out last Wednesday, a more energized version of the Panthers showed up on Friday at home....Glover was hard on the puck all night....the Panthers Powerplay had yet another power outage....Salas had no traffic in front of him all night long and as a result Panthers went 0-for-9 on the PP....Panthers threw numerous cross-ice passes in their own zone and many were intercepted and it finally bit them when they coughed up the lead with 37 ticks remaining....Loverock did what he does best, skated miles and for his efforts he was rewarded with a two-point night....Cole Golka was back in the lineup after being out with an injury for the past several games....Cody Allison, Brett Clarke and Austin Singhera were scratched due to injury although all three are close to returning....Goaltender Justin Samra was scheduled to start in goal however pulled himself due to sickness....he did stay on the bench in a backup roll....Zack Smith left the game early in the first period when he was whistled on a 2-minute check from behind and a game misconduct....After the two games next weekend, the Panthers will hit the halfway mark in their regular season schedule.