Costain pots late powerplay tally to give Panthers 3-1 Series lead

Sandpaper does not work without grit and neither does a Junior Hockey Club.  And on Saturday night at the Westshore Q-Centre, the gritty line of Tylor Branzsen, Reece Costain and Grayson Vickers gave a skilled and talented Westshore Wolves all they could handle and more in leading the Peninsula Panthers to a heart-stopping 5-4 win.  With the win the Panthers take a stranglehold on the Best-of-7 series 3-1 and will be looking to close out the Wolves on Monday evening at the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.

The win did not come easy, in fact the Panthers were trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes and they once again relied on the final frame to turn the tables scoring three times including the winner by Costain with just over three minutes left in regulation time.  18-year-old Rylan Ball, who was just recently acquired by the Panthers, was paired on the backend with veteran 20-year-old Cody Breitenstein and the two dominated each and every time out.  Ball had two goals and an assist while Breitenstein chipped in with a goal and two helpers.

It was the Wolves who opened the scoring once again when at the 4:44 mark Kyle Peterson beat Panthers' starter Stephen Heslop.  And the score remained the same until the 15:46 mark when Ball scored his first of the game on helpers from Breitenstein and Branzsen.

Ball opened the scoring in the 2nd stanza at 3:12 when he beat Wolves 20-year-old standout starter Matt Chester, with Brett Sjerven and Jordan Law adding assists on the play.  But the Wolves would add two goals to take the 3-2 lead into the 2nd intermission when at the 7:56 mark Connor Krupa scored on the powerplay and then Peterson beat Connor Logan on the boards after Logan did a fly by.  The Wolves sniper walked unimpeded to the Panthers net and in on Heslop and snapped one past the netminder.

But the 3rd period was once again owned by the Cats.  Jackson Skerratt wasted no time scoring on the powerplay with only 18 ticks having expired with assists going to Ball and Logan.   And it was then Breitenstein's turn to score as he snapped a long shot that found the top corner of the Wolves net behind a screened Chester.  Cole Glover, who has skated miles in the series and easily has been one of the best Panthers so far, was awarded with an assist as was 16-year-old Tate Coughlin.  Kyle Richter, who has been deadly for the Wolves, was not yet ready to give up the ghost and he tied the game at the 6:39 mark to tie the game once again, this time at 4-4.  In the ensuing ten minutes of play, both teams had tremendous scoring opportunities however, the puck would squirt wide or off posts or the shooters would be stymied by great goaltending on both ends.  At the 16:31 mark, a Wolves forward was whistled for a high-sticking infraction and this set the stage for Costain to pot the game winner on the powerplay.  Costain and Branzsen set up shop in front of Chester and Branzsen slid the puck to the point and onto the stick of Breitenstein.  The crafty defenceman snapped the puck to the net through a maze of players and after Chester made the initial save, Costain was in the right place at the right time and banged home the eventual winner with only 3:02 left in the game.  The Panthers played a solid shutdown game the rest of the way and even though Chester was yanked for the extra attacker with just over one minute left in the game, the Wolves had difficulty penetrating the Panthers blueline.  The final seconds ticked off with the puck in the Wolves end and the Panthers bench spilled onto the ice to congratulate each other and winning goaltender Stephen Heslop.

"It was great to get the win," said owner Pete Zubersky.  "We did some really good things but there were areas where we were not strong.  I watched a kid like Sjerven go out each time and do what he does best and that is grind out every single shift.  I watched a couple guys like Logan and Skerratt go out and not give everything.  They were not great in the defensive end and this could have cost us.  We are in the playoffs now, we don't have the time or the luxury of players not giving it their all.  There were others but overall I thought our guys did a lot of good things.  Pearce will slot back in on Monday night and I expect him to start to do the things we expect of him as well.  We need to be firing on all cylinders and finish this thing off.  The playoffs are a long, hard grind and you finish the job when you have a chance.  These Wolves are a great team and they are not going to mail in the points, we all know that.  I'm looking forward to Monday night."

Heslop blocked 37 or 41 shots in picking up the win while Chester was good on 37 of 42 attempts and was collared with the loss. 

The puck is set to drop at 7:30 pm on Monday night at the Panorama Recreation Centre.