Panthers smack the Buccaneers 3-2 for their 4th win in a row

It was a much different looking lineup than last Friday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre as the host Peninsula Panthers welcomed in the visiting Nanaimo Buccaneers for their final visit of the current Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League schedule.  And for the Panthers who were taking on the North Division Leaders some players were back in and some players were out.

Missing on the evening were defenceman Matt Sheeran who has been recently affiliated with the Nanaimo Clippers and was up playing in the Hub City against former Panthers Josh Adkins and his Alberni Bulldog mates.  Adam Page and Ben Meek were Missing In Action due to a variety of bumps and bruises and Cody Allison had school commitments with the University of Victoria.  But inserted into the lineup on the evening were Captain Brett Sjerven, the lanky Norweigan reargaurd Iver Oedegaard and Cole Glover who had all missed several games due to injury.  Also returning were Reece Costain who spent last weekend with the Victoria Grizzlies in the Lower Mainland and Spencer Loverock who went with the Clippers on a three-game swing through the Interior of the Province.

"It will be an interesting game this evening," suggested Owner Pete Zubersky.  "Last night the Bucs played to a 4-4 draw with the Campbell River Storm and after we upended them last Friday night here in our barn, I'm sure they will come out with some real fire tonight.  Hopefully we will be able to match that intensity early in the game and Stephen Heslop is as solid as he was a week ago."  Heslop drew the start between the pipes from Head Coach and General Manager Brian Passmore.

After the ice was greased and the National Anthem was belted out by young Clayton Butler both teams were ready for the task at hand.  The first several minutes of the opening frame were a bit like a prize fight, both Clubs banging and crashing as was expected.  Cole Glover was rocked at one point as he flew down the left side in the neutral zone but he quickly picked himself up and dusted himself off and went looking for more.  And at 10:30, about midway through the first Tate Coughlin reversed the puck low in the defensive end to the ever improving Sean Buchanan.  The big reargaurd made a sweet little button hook behind his own net to evade a would-be checker and then dangled out of his own end on the left boards.  In the neutral zone Buchanan threaded a seeing eye pass to speedy Connor Logan and sent him in all alone on the Buccaneers Michael Herringer and he made no mistake giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead.  Both teams exchanged a scoring chance or two the rest of the way however Herringer and Panthers netminder Stephen Heslop were up to the task.

The 2nd period saw the Panthers widen the score to 3-0 as Brandon Story opened the scoring in the first minute of play and Zack Smith close the scoring in the final minute of the 2nd period.  Jackson Skerratt gathered in the puck on the first tally and sent it back to Buchanan who sent the disk towards Herringer.  The shot went wide however a sizeable bounce off the end boards landed on the stick of Story and he quickly fired it past a surprised Bucs stopper.  The period featured a lot of big hits and several nice stops by Heslop and with under a minute left Coughlin gathered in the puck in the neutral zone and moved into the Bucs end with support from Connor Logan and Smith.  Coughlin fed Logan with a cute little pass and he in turn backhanded a pass to Smith who was cruising in all alone in the slot.  Smith who is known for his sweet hands and quick release made no mistake and as the teams went to the dressing room you could see a visibly upset Nanaimo side.

The 3rd period went back and forth and it looked like the Panthers were going to cruise to the win.  But Nick White and Grayson Vickers, two of the tougher players in the VIJHL shed their mitts in the neutral zone and within a short time Vickers was throwing some massive uppercuts before the scrap ended.  Both were sent to the showers however Vickers was tagged with an extra minor for being the agressor in the tilt.  Reece Costain went to the sin bin a few seconds later and with the two-man advantage Garrett Dunlop was finally able to solve Heslop at the 7:02 mark.  The Panthers looked like they were still in control however with the Bucs net empty in the final 1:30 of play a couple veterans decided to shoot for a goal rather than work the puck.  This resulted in three consecutive icing calls against the home squad and Lynden Eddy made them pay when he beat Heslop from the slot with still 1:08 left on the clock.  The Panthers got back to business and killed off the remaining time and put two points in the bank.

Buchanan, Cody Breitenstein who was a rock on the back end all night long and Heslop were named the three stars of the game.

"We have to play as a team for 60 minutes long all night long," said Coach Brian Passmore.  "At the end of the game two of our 20-year-olds and our 19-year-old leader on the back end decided to try and score instead of play the team game all night long.  But we won and every game we learn a lesson.  I was really pleased for the most part and the final minute and how we were not effective will be a learning tool sometime  down the road.  There was just no need for the game to be that close in the end.  I want to see us start to play hockey that is required to win in the playoffs.  When you are up and it is late get the pucks out, get the pucks in.  I don't think we will see what we saw in the last minute again this year."

The Panthers will not have to wait long to get back to business as the club travels to Mill Bay tomorrow night to take on the Kerry Park Islanders in a game where goaltender Joey Karrer is expected to be between the pipes.  The Club will make a stop at the George Pearkes Arena next Wednesday for an evening affair with the Saanich Braves and will then return back home next Friday to tangle with the hottest team in the VIJHL, the Comox Valley Glacier Kings.  The puck will drop at 7:30 pm