NORTH SAANICH — The Peninsula Panthers continue to dramatically improve and it was evident this past weekend as they knocked off the Comox Valley Glacier Kings, 5-2 at home on Friday and then did it again in Comox Saturday, 4-2.
The Panthers have won three of their last four games and are hoping to knock off the Saanich Braves this Friday night when they host their South Division foes in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) action. The Panthers trail the Braves by a single point, albeit, they do have two games in hand.
On Friday night the “Cats” opened the scoring early and often and led 3-0 going into the first intermission on two goals by Marshall Brown and a single marker from Josh Lingard.
The visitors narrowed the game to 3-2 midway through the second period when Jory Sawnson and Matteo Giomo beat Panthers’ starting goaltender Bryce Schiebel. However the stopper closed the door the rest of the way. A later period power play marker by Thomas Spink put the Panthers up 4-2 after 40 minutes were in the books and when Riley Braun tallied in the power play for the Panthers at the 4:50 mark of the final stanza it was pretty well all said and done.
Brown was selected as the first star as he bagged four points on the night, while Spink and Lingard also picked up star selections. Schiebel was solid all night long and picked up the win going the distance, blocking 26 of 28 shots in the process.
On Saturday in Comox both Clubs went tooth and nail for 40 minutes with the score deadlocked at 2-2. But it was all Panthers in the final period as the “Cats” from the Peninsula threw 19 shots at the Glacier Kings cage and scored two en route to the 3-2 win.
Sniper Tanner Wort scored three times for the hat trick while defenceman Braeden Hansen added a single. Chris Akerman was good on 31 of 33 shots in goal for the Panthers and was awarded the win.
The focus is now on having a great week of practice and then getting down to business Friday night when the Braves invade the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. and a sizeable crowd is expected to be in attendance.
— Peninsula Panthers
