Oedegaard shines as Panthers win 2-1 in a nail-biter against the Glacier Kings

The month of November started with a win and ended with a win but a bruised and battered Peninsula Panthers squad would like nothing more than to see some of the walking wounded return to action.

"We have a lot of guys sitting up in the stands wearing suits," quipped Panthers Coach & General Manager Brian Passmore.  "But we don't want to ever make excuses.  When key guys are out it leaves others to pick up roles and minutes and it will make us a better Club rolling into the second half of the season.  I am hopefull that the depth we are building here will pay dividends in the playoffs come mid-February.

Last night at the Panorama Recreation Centre a red-hot Comox Valley Glacier Kings Club arrived looking to take advantage of the depleted hosts.  And they did not waste any time jumping into an early 1-0 lead when Brendyn Smith beat Panthers started Joey Karrer on the power play at 7:33 of the first frame.  But from this point on Karrer and Glacier Kings stopper Blake Pearson hunkered down and were both better than every other shooter and through 40 minutes the score remained 1-0 for the visitors.

But at the 2:00 minute mark of the final stanza the tall and rangy Norweigan defenceman Iver Oedegaard showed some flash and dash.  He picked up the puck in his own end and after beating several Glacier Kings defenders along the way moved down the left side one-on-one against one last defenceman.  Oedegaard cut in towards Pearson and while being hauled down on the play deftly shoveled a pass to power forward Reece Costain who was all alone at the side of the Glacier Kings cage.  Costain made no mistake putting the puck into the yawning cage as Pearson had committed to Oedegaard.  And only 4:16 later Connor Logan found himself moving in on Pearson on a two-on-one with sniper Zack Smith.  Logan feathered a pass over the defenders stick and Smith made no mistake ripping a shot to the upper part of the Glacier Kings net as Pearson dove to try and thwart the effort.  It would prove to be the winner. 

The Glacier Kings had several cracks at Karrer but he was solid and would not give in.  The visitors pulled Pearson in the final minute of play however the Panthers shut down any offensive momentum and cleared the puck into the neutral zone several times to run off the clock.

It was not all good news on the night.  Jackson Skerratt and Matt Sheeran were forced to leave the game due to injury and they too appear to be on the shelf for some time.  Skerratt is expected to return sooner than Sheeran who most likely is out until the New Year at best. 

Kyle Richardson took the law into his own hands when he challenged Austin McNeil to a tilt.   Richardson felt that McNeil had something to do with the injury to Skerratt and the two went toe-to-toe with Richardson clearly getting the decision. 

The brightest lights on the evening were Oedegaard and Karrer.  For Oedegaard the game highlighted his great skating ability but more importantly, it showed that he can play the physical brand of hockey and can play it well.  He was a force all night and clearly played his best game in two years with the Club.  Karrer was solid between the pipes making huge saves including a penalty shot in the 2nd period when Brett Sjerven hauled down a would-be attacker as he was breaking in all alone.  Sjerven was gritty and solid all night long and was selected as the game's 3rd star.  Oedegaard and Karrer were the 1st and 2nd star's.

The Panthers head up to Campbell River to take on the Storm on Sunday afternoon and will return to the Panorama next Thursday evening at 7:30 pm when the host the Saanich Braves.  It will be the Club's only Thursday night game of the Regular Season.  There will be no game at home next Friday night.