Cardiac Kids down Cougars 3-2 in Overtime once again!

Tylor Branzsen's total distance on three shots that resulted in three goals was probably less than four feet, but it was enough to lift the Peninsula Panthers to a 3-2 Overtime road win over the Victoria Cougars in a rare Sunday evening contest at the Archie Browning Arena.  The winner was scored at the 1:20 mark of the first overtime frame when Rylan Ball picked up a puck which had been moved deep into the corner to the right of Cougars starter Connor Beauchamp.  Ball took the puck to the blue ice in front of the Cougars' cage and after Beauchamp made a stop, Branzsen was in the right spot at the right time to jam home the winner which once again cued the entire Panthers bench to spill onto the ice in celebration as they had done in the overtime victory in Game 2 at Panorama.  

The Panthers opened the scoring at the 8:18 mark of the 2nd frame when Ball and Alex Milligan got the puck to the front of Beauchamp.  Branzsen raced in and the puck squirted past the Cougars' starter appearing to go off his skate.  But after a short conversation between the reffing crew, the goal was allowed.  And only 11 seconds later, it was Ball once again who brought the puck to the net and yet again Branzsen was there to shovel the garbage past Beauchamp.  But a miscue at the 12:58 mark sent Cougars' Michael Fretz in alone on Panthers' netminder Joey Karrer.  A Panthers forward fed the point however, Fretz tipped the puck and once it was past the flat-footed Panthers defence, nobody would catch the speed winger.  And Fretz finished off the play making a pretty move on Karrer before depositing the puck behind him.

The Cougars mounted a strong push in the 3rd period trailing 2-1 and they were rewarded when Blake Roney tucked in a rebound past Karrer off a Fretz shot from the half-wall at the 8:06 mark.  The goal came early on a powerplay attempt.  There would be no more scoring, although both squads had chances to end it in regulation but were stymied by the two stoppers.  The stage was set for Branzen's heroics. 

There is very little time to let the results of this game sink in as the two teams will go at it Monday night at the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre with the puck set to drop at the usual 7:30 pm.  With the win, the Panthers take a 2-1 series lead.

Panthers Tracks....the 3-stars were Branzsen, Karrer and Beauchamp....Karrer stopped 28 of 30 attempts while Beauchamp was good on 18 of 21....Ball had three assists in the win and leads Panthers playoff scoring....Karrer was making his 2nd start of the post-season and 1st start in this series, although he entered Friday's double overtime win at the 8:11 mark of the 1st period.