Panthers double up Wolves 10-5 to leave them howling

13 proved to be a very lucky number on Friday evening at the Panorama Recreation Centre.  There was no luck involved for number 15.  20-year-old Alex Milligan wears number 15 for the Peninsula Panthers and local fans are just starting to realize just how good the sniper is.  Milligan added three more goals to his VIJHL leading total of 35 and paced the Panthers to a convincing 10-5 win over the visiting Westshore Wolves to run their home winning streak to lucky number 13.

"Passy pulled the trigger on a pretty big transaction for our squad right at the deadline," quipped Panthers' part-owner Pete Zubersky.  "We as an organization believed that we have a chance to compete this year and adding Alex Milligan and Tylor Branzsen were bold moves that we hope will put us over the top.  I watched Alex pop a couple earlier in the game and then I watched him take a nice feed and come in on the left side on the Wolves' Goaltender Matt Chester.  From where I stand in the arena, I could see high over the glove side was there for him and he put it right in that spot.  These two kids have added some offensive punch that we were really lacking but they are two great kids in the room as well.  We are having a lot of fun right now."

The first frame was an old-fashioned shootout between two teams who are on a collision course and will be matched up in the Round 1 of the VIJHL playoffs.  Jackson Skerratt opened the scoring at the 3:00 minute mark of the period on the powerplay.  Six minutes and one second later Milligan tallied his first on the night and it looked like the local "Cats" might just run away and hide early.  But Brett Lervold got the Wolves back in the game three minutes later.  After carrying the play for most of the period, Defenceman Sean Buchanan gathered in a puck just inside the Panthers' blueline.  Instead of chipping it out of the zone and out of harms way, he decided to make a tight turn back into his zone and when he lost his footing and the puck, it was only a couple ticks later that Lervold deposited the puck behind Panthers' starter Joey Karrer.  And at the 13:57 mark Wolves hulking defenceman Clay Carson got into the act when he beat Karrer on the powerplay to knot the game at two.  But this would be the last time the two teams would be deadlocked.  Power forward Reece Costain scored at the 15:08 mark to put the Panthers back in the lead and two minutes later Tate Coughlin notched another.  Carson was in on the next goal for the Wolves when he dished the puck to former Panthers Kayle Ramsay to make it a 4-3 game.  It looked like the period would end right there but with just six seconds left, the diminutive and hard-working Jordan Law managed to beat Chester to make give the home squad a 5-3 margin after 20 minutes were in the books.

The goals kept coming in the 2nd frame as each team scored twice.  Kyle Richter and Lervold beat Karrer while Milligan added his 2nd.  Coughlin was the other Panthers marksman on a beautiful individual effort.  The puck turned over in the Wolves' zone and after Coughlin gathered it in, he skated to the middle of the ice near the blueline.  The 16-year-old sniper hammered a shot that looked like it had eyes and the 40-foot blast found nothing but net.

It was all Panthers in the 3rd period.  After Branzsen scored a shorthanded marker at the 8:56 mark to give the Club an 8-5 lead, it looked like it was over and the only issue left was what would the final score be.  Milligan scored just under a minute later to complete his hat-trick and his goal chased Chester to the Wolves' bench in favour of backup Nick Dueck.  The minutes ticked off and with just 19 seconds left, rugged 17-year-old Braeden Pearce scored a goal-scorers goal when he picked up a Dueck rebound which came off the stick of Panthers' Captain Brett Sjerven and quickly roofed it.  It would end the scoring for the night and when the final ticks rolled off the clock, it showed Panthers 10 Wolves 5.

"We let them back into the game in the first period and we have to fix that," explained Head Coach Brian Passmore.  "In the playoffs our guys have to play situational hockey.  If we are up and we are controlling a hockey game, I do not want to see us turn pucks over and allow the opponent to get back into the match without earning it.  I thought the turnover by Sean (Buchanan) was a mistake but he is a great young kid and he will make mistakes, it's part of the learning process.  He made up for it and had a really solid game.  We scored a lot of goals tonight and did a lot of good things.  I would have liked to have seen Joey (Karrer) be a bit more solid but he will get more chances as we move towards playoffs.  Stephen (Heslop) will be in goal on Saturday night in Oceanside and we need that win.  With Comox dumping Campbell River coupled with our win, the standings for 2nd overall in the League are tight.  We need to keep winning right now and we will not be taking the Oceanside Generals lightly.  Our fans are really getting a treat right now.  There are some talented kids really coming into their own."

Karrer blocked 26 of 31 shots in picking up the win while Chester and Dueck combined to block 36 of 45 Panthers attempts.  Milligan was named the 1st star, Carson who picked up a goal and three assists was the 2nd pick and Sean Buchanan who added three helpers in the onslaught was the 3rd selection.

The Panthers will travel to Oceanside on Saturday night to face a Generals team that is fading out of the playoff race and will be on the road once again next Thursday when they head over to the Archie Browning Arena to face the VIJHL leading Victoria Cougars.  And next Friday night back at the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre the squad will host the Kerry Park Islanders.  It will be the first opportunity to welcome back former Panthers Adam Page and Nick Kean who were moved in the deadline deal for Milligan and Branzsen.  The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Yes, 13 is a lucky number after all thanks in part to number 15.