The Peninsula Panthers finished Thanksgiving weekend on a winning note, beating the Saanich Predators 6-3 at Panorama Recreation Centre in rare Monday matinee.
But the North Saanich-based Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League team will likely rue several missed opportunities to come away with more points over the past week.
League-leading scorer Riley Braun scored once and assisted on three goals in MondayB次元官网网址檚 win, while teammate Denver Maloney scored twice and added two assists.
The Panthers (5-6-0-2) emerged from the weekend with 12 points, good for third place in the South Division after playing four games in six days.
That swing started in Port Alberni on Oct. 6, a game in which the Panthers led 3-1 after the first period, but gave up three goals in the third to lose 4-3.
Last Friday at home, the Panthers found themselves in a back-and-forth affair with Comox Valley and overcame a one-goal deficit in the third to push the game to overtime. The extra time did not settle the contest, and the Glacier Kings secured the second point by winning the shootout 1-0 thanks to goaltender Ryder Lally, who stopped all four Panthers attempts.
The teams met again the next night in Courtenay. Overcoming what PanthersB次元官网网址� GM Pete Zubersky called B次元官网网址渂us legsB次元官网网址� during the early phases of the game, the Panthers controlled the rest of it, only to run into strong goaltending from Lally once more.
B次元官网网址淥ur kids worked their tails off, but we ran into a hot goaltender and he was the story. In the end he hung a 2-1 loss on us,B次元官网网址� Zubersky said.
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MondayB次元官网网址檚 outcome was a conciliatory note in terms of results, after the Panthers played well for most of the preceding three games.
B次元官网网址淲e always stress that doing our best and getting better every day is what is important,B次元官网网址� said head coach Brad Tippett. B次元官网网址淚 told the players the coaches would rather lose a game we played well in, versus sneaking out a game we were not at our best. Well, that prophecy came true. We had 40 outstanding minutes in Port Alberni on Wednesday, we have 50 great minutes on Friday and Saturday and we came out with one point out of six.B次元官网网址�
What Tippett called B次元官网网址渓ittleB次元官网网址� but B次元官网网址渇atalB次元官网网址� mistakes are sabotaging long stretches of solid effort and team play for the Panthers, who are also dealing with injuries, suspensions and a recent retirement. These developments have provided excellent opportunities for other players to step forward into bigger roles, Tippett said.
B次元官网网址淭heo St-Denis is playing with a lot of confidence, and in key situations Owen Cox is looking like the power forward we expected and Julien Philips is making his presence known on the ice.B次元官网网址�
For Zubersky, the recent results shows the competitiveness of the league.
B次元官网网址淚 have never seen this league so tight in 20 years,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址�(So) we are looking to put some wins on the board in the next several weeks to separate ourselves from a bunch of other teams.B次元官网网址�
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