Panthers #1 Joey Karrer is all peepers as he looks at a loose puck near the crease in New Years Day action against the Saanich Braves. Karrer has been hot as of late and was named the 3rd star in Friday's 3-1 win over the Oceanside Generals (Photo by Gordon Lee)
The last time the Peninsula Panthers lost at home was October 25th and the Club has now run their winning streak to ten games.
It was an interesting night at the Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday night but when Peninsula Panthers Cody Breitenstein sent a 100 foot shot down the ice and into a vacated Oceanside Generals net to give the Club a 3-1 win. And as the fans in attendance wandered into a chilly parking lot in early January, they were already talking about next Friday evening when the Victoria Cougars come to town. With the win the Panthers have now racked up ten straight wins at the Panorama Recreation Centre, one of those wins over the VIJHL leading Victoria Cougars. But the last loss was a 4-0 spanking on October 25th at the hands of the Cougars and so this one is shaping up to be a beauty.
The Generals arrived on the Peninsula entrenched in last place in the entire VIJHL and after the 1st period was in the books it looked like they might belong right there. Des Bast opened the scoring when Connor Logan dished him the puck and from the high slot Bast sent a seeing-eye shot past Generals goaltender Evgueni Makarski at the 13:52 mark. And then four minutes later Jackson Skerratt completed the play from Logan and Bast sending the puck into the back of the Oceanside net and it looked like the barn door was open as the two teams went to the dressing room with 20 minutes in the books. The Panthers held an 11-3 shots advantage and if it had not been for Makarski the score could have been 5-0.
But Carlos Grouchy scored on the Power Play with three minutes remaining in the 2nd period and when the period ended at 2-1 things became interesting. As the Zamboni went onto the ice it made one quick lap before running into mechanical issues and it was forced to the sidelines. When it became clear that it would not be in service for the evening the officals decided to play the 3rd frame out on the ice as it was. There was some that was clean, some that was not and the final 20 minutes was somewhat of the Panthers version of the Winter Classic. And until Breitenstein put the hole in the coffin, it was in doubt.
Bast, Makarski and Panthers' stopper Joey Karrer were named the three stars in the game. Makarski stopped 30 of 32 shots while Karrer blocked 17 of 18 in picking up the win.
"We could have put them away early and when a team hangs around anything can happen," explained Pete Zubersky. But good teams find a way to win games like this and so we'll take the two points and look forward to two big games next week." The Panthers play the Westshore Wolves at Bear Mountain on Wednesday before welcoming the Victoria Cougars into the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre next Friday night. The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm and a large crowd is expected to be on hand.
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