The Peninsula Panthers defeated their crosstown rivals 4-1 on Thursday night to add an all important two points to their total and bring the Cats within one point of their Division rivals!
"After a very difficult January in which the Panthers only won 3 out of 7 games, the Panthers are now undefeated in two. It was only the 4th regulation loss of the season for the Cougars, who are currently ranked #1 in the Province.
The Panthers got off to a quick start with Michael Colantone (27) converting a breakaway pass from Evan Campbell (11) just 31 seconds into the game. Joe Densmore (18) and Gerry Fitzgerald (21) then added to the lead in the last 5 minutes of the first period. Assists on these goals were awarded to Colantone and Campbell on Densmore’s goal and David Courtney (13) and Mike Scarborough (2) on Fitzgerald’s.
The second period saw the Cougars come out with a lot more life and saw both teams play an entertaining middle frame. Max McCloy (19) cemented the win for the Panthers halfway through the period with a shorthanded goal assisted by Tanner Carter (25). Both Carter and McCloy did an excellent job all evening on the penalty kill for the Panthers.
The Cougars attempted to claw back and had the Panthers on their heels for much of the third period. Several big saves by Brady Berisoff (31) and a few close calls on the crossbar kept the score unchanged until Josh Wyatt (11) scored for the Cougars, on the PP, with just under four minutes to go on a goal mouth scramble.
"We played a pretty strong game and didn’t give up to much defensively", noted Panthers GM/ Head Coach Geoff Grimwood. "We were fortunate to get some offence early in the game and that seemed to set the tone".
Final Score - Panthers 4 - Cougars 1
PANTHERS vs WESTSHORE - FEBRUARY 5
Peninsula's home game vs Westshore on Friday night saw the Panthers take the Stingers with a 5-1 win. Despite the loss, Nick Babich was outstanding in net for Westshore and was named the first star of the game.
Peninsula went ahead at 4:10 of the first when Michael Colantone (27) got an even strength goal with helpers going to Evan Campbell (11) and Joe Densmore (18). Just a minute and a half later, Gerry Fitzgerald (21) and Tyrell Turgeon got assists on a Brent Lucente (16) goal. Lucente was not done and buried his second of the period at 17:23 with assists from Campbell and John Echle (7).
Westshore was next on the board and scored with just 32 seconds remaining in the period with a goal by Jacob Nixon (14, who was assisted by Conner Head (7) and David Hanson (21).
Despite the goaltending of Babich, the Panthers were able to get two more by him, with a goal in the second by Fitzgerald and in the third, one by Campbell. Assists went to Max McCloy (19, David Courtney (13), Josh Bloomenthal (8) and Jake Bryan (9).
Final Score - Panthers 5 - Westshore 1.
