Panthers boy’s remain undefeated following win over Cougars

September 24, 2022
North Saanich, British Columbia

The Peninsula Panthers stood equally the just unbeaten squad later a pair of squeakers in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Eye this by weekend.  On Friday dark the Club bounced the Oceanside Generals, admitting, information technology took 5 minutes of overtime and a shootout to turn aside the visitors.  And after a quick turn around, the Cats welcomed in the Campbell River Tempest for a 2:00 pm start on Sat and just like in the game up in Storm territory back on September tenth, the Panthers prevailed past an identical three-ii score.

Bench Boss Chris Driebergen, who has lead the team to their best start ever at 6-0, discussed the weekend in his function following the matinee victory over the Storm and had these comments.

"Our boys definitely got the message and managed to play within the rules and eliminated our penalty minutes this weekend.  This is something we will need to go along to exercise if we want to keep having success on the ice.

Both of our goaltenders, twin brothers Mason and Brady Kelly were in one case again fantastic, some large timely saves from each of them which kept usa in both games.  Brady was stellar on Friday dark and Mason duplicated his effort on Saturday.

We continued our early season pattern of slow starts Friday, as a team nosotros know this will not serve the states well as the flavour moves along and we take been lucky to get away with this agonizing tendency for the first five games. But we met prior to the game Sabbatum against Campbell River and discussed ways to make sure nosotros started on fourth dimension. I really liked how the squad responded and think we tin build off our first catamenia versus the Storm.

Stonemason McNeill was a monster on the backend for us this weekend, he played some tough hockey and actually set an instance of how nosotros need to compete shift afterward shift.

I thought that Tristan Rosenblood had another strong weekend, I recall he's been one of our near consistent players to start the year and has been able to seamlessly slot in on all lines and special squad situations.  Pete likes to phone call him our 'Swiss Army Knife' and he certainly has been that, plus more.

It was prissy to finally meet Julian Phillips in action, he was a leader on the bench and accepted a role as mentor to our younger players.  JR has been out of the lineup until this weekend due to an upper trunk injury and I expect that he volition get even better each time out.

I'm really liking the resiliency of our Social club and their power to proceed grinding away at teams.  I could non be any happier after going through the get-go six tough games with half dozen wins under out belts.  But in that location is lots that we have to clean up and we will work on those things on Monday before we head upwards to Kerry Park to take on the Islanders, a team that is fresh off a victory over the Oceanside Generals.  Information technology won't be like shooting fish in a barrel."

The Panthers had a slow commencement Friday night and trailed 2-0 later xx minutes were in the books with the Oceanside Generals.  Simply Ryan Grambart popped a couple 2nd period goals to knot the score at 2-2 before the visitors once again took the atomic number 82 tardily in the period.  The Panthers dominated the 3rd stanza and it was 17-yr-onetime Ethan Lingard who banged in a rebound from three feet out to tie the game in one case over again and send it into overtime.  The v-infinitesimal extra frame did not solve anything and the two foes went to the shootout.  Tanner Banks scored the just goal of the shootout while goaltender Brady Kelly held the fort, not allowing anything or anyone to beat out him to secure the win.

On Saturday, in the three-2 win over the Tempest Banks scored a 1st period marker and Grambart added a couple in the final 20 minutes to get the Cats to the stop line first.  Stonemason Kelly was nails all game long and nerveless the win after blocking 24 of 26 shots.

The win was the Panthers 6th in a row to open the 2022/23 VIJHL flavour and coupled with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings loss Saturday night on home water ice to the visiting Victoria Cougars, the Panthers now remain as the simply undefeated squad in the League.  Simply in that location is no residuum ahead as the Cats travel to Mill Bay on Tuesday nighttime to confront the Islanders and so are dorsum at domicile side by side Friday dark at 7:30 pm where they will host the of a sudden red hot Port Alberni Bombers.

But for at to the lowest degree for the residual of the weekend the Cats can be satisfied that their record is but purrfect after half dozen games in a 48-game regular season.