The Peninsula Panthers continued to claw the opposition in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre however, their latest victims did not go down without a fight. The Comox Valley Glacier Kings were the latest club to fall prey to the Panthers on home ice, albeit, they took the local “Cats” into deep water before all was said and done.
The Panthers came out flying looking to chill the Glacier Kings early however, the visitors’ goaltender Matthias Smith had all the answers as he blocked everything that came his way in the first frame. And Panthers’ stopper Chris Akerman was just as good, although the visitors did not have nearly as many quality scoring chances. Panthers’ Skyler Diamond-Burchuk drew first blood only 3:09 into the middle stanza however, the Glacier Kings’ Damian Rennie knotted the score at 1-1 at the 7:19 mark. Panthers’ Jack McMillan gave his Club the lead once again at the 15:04 mark when he romped down the right side and then snapped a shot past Smith low on the blocker side. It looked like the Panthers would hold on for the 2-1 win however with Smith on the bench and with only 34 seconds left in the game, Glacier Kings’ forward Jerzy Gus found himself all alone in front of Akerman and he wasted no time putting a wrist shot past the hulking goaltender over his glove hand.
Both teams raced up and down early in the overtime period and finally Panthers’ sniper Josh Lingard took things into his own hands. Lingard dashed down the left side, beat a Glacier Kings’ defenceman and then slid the puck to a wide open Fraser Auchterlonie who was camped at the top of the crease to the left of Smith. And Auchterlonie made no mistake once the Lingard pass arrived on his stick as he ripped it into the yawning cage to give his squad a thrilling 3-2 win. And with the victory, the Panthers extended their home winning streak to six games; wins that have included the Glacier Kings twice, Victoria Cougars, Westshore Wolves, Campbell River Storm and the Kerry Park Islanders.
The club looks to extend its streak to seven Friday when they face the Oceanside Generals for their second and final visit of this VIJHL campaign. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
