North Saanich, BC – The Peninsula Panthers kept up their winning ways this past weekend, coming away with a 3-2 win over the Victoria Cougars on Friday night and a 5-4 OT road win over the Nanaimo Buccaneers on Sunday.
The two wins have moved the Panthers (13-1-1-0) back into first place in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) South Division, with 27 points, just percentage points ahead of the Westshore Wolves (13-2-1-0), but with a game still in hand over the Wolves.
On Friday night, the Panthers had all they could handle from the third place Cougars, who outshot the Panthers 44-35 – the first time the Panthers have been outshot this season – but built a 3-0 lead and then hung on for the win. Ethan Lingard, Oskar Aitken-Salmons and Brendan Williams scored for the Panthers, while goaltender Matus Volovar stopped 42 of 44 shots to earn first star of the game honours.
On Sunday, the Panthers ventured to Nanaimo for the second time this season and overcame a 4-2 second period deficit with goals from Jacob Eddy and Liam Byrne to force overtime, before Alex Sajan played the hero, scoring at 2:56 of the first overtime period to give the Panthers the win. Caden Lentz was in goal and he stopped 18 of 22 shots to move his record to 5-0-1-0 on the season.
The Panthers have now won four straight following an overtime loss to Westshore on October 15th.
The Panthers will next be in action on Halloween night, Friday October 31st, as they host the North Division leading Oceanside Generals at Panorama Recreation Centre. Fans are encouraged to come dressed in their favourite family-friendly attire, as prizes will be awarded to the best costumes in attendance! It is also the last opportunity to bid on the Panthers game-worn pink jerseys with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Game time for that is 7:30 pm and regular Adult Admission is $12, $9 for youth (ages 13-18), and $2 for kids 12 and under. Also, for every kid’s ticket sold, the Murphy Family Foundation will donate $1.00US to the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association.
Peninsula Panther forward Brendan Williams (9, foreground) celebrates with the rest of his line mates after scoring his ninth goal of the season last Friday night against the Victoria Cougars (Photo: Christian J. Stewart).
