And for the Cougars it marked only the second time this entire season that they lost a game in regulation - the only other time coming at the hands of the Nanaimo Buccaneers. The series now moves to the Archie Browning Arena on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm and will then return to the friendly confines of the Panorama on Monday evening with the puck set to drop at the usual 7:30 pm.
The series opener was played this past Thursday and the Cougars bashed the Panthers 6-2. They opened up a 2-0 lead early in the 1st frame but a marker by Jackson Skerratt put the Panthers back within a goal as the players left the ice and the zamboni rolled out to grease the sheet. But the 2nd period saw three unanswered goals by the Cougars and, although Nathan Looysen scored early in the final period to bring the Panthers back a bit, it was not nearly enough. Stephen Heslop took the loss between the pipes.
"I thought the game was a lot closer than the 6-2 final score indicated," explained Pete Zubersky, Hockey Operation boss for the Panthers. "The Cougars powerplay was lights out as they scored 3 with the man-advantage. They really had a 4th as Reece Costain was leaving the box and was not yet in the play before the Cougars put another one behind Heslop. We left the rink feeling not all that bad and believed that we could play with them. Listen, this series is truly all about David and Goliath. All you have to do is go to the Cougars' website and read the article just before the series started, a recap on the two teams if you will. After you get through it there is no doubt that we have really no chance to beat these guys and we know that there might not be one person on Vancouver Island who thinks we can. Fair enough. But we still felt OK leaving the Archie Browning and were looking forward to another chance at Goliath in our barn in front of our fans."
And on Friday evening it was David with only a tiny slingshot that managed to hit Goliath right between the ears and drop him to the ground, if only temporarily. The puck was dropped and the polished and veteran Cougars moved quickly into the Panthers end and after a turnover, 20-year-old Samuel Rice wristed a blast by a startled Stephen Heslop only 1:24 into the game. A huge gasp was sent out by the partisan Panthers crowd but when 16-year-old Connor Logan scored only two minutes later on an assist from the other 16-year-old in the lineup Nathan Looysen, the gasps turned to a roar. But 118-point man and VIJHL leading scorer 20-year-old Brody Coulter popped the Cougars 2nd marker at 6:13 of the 1st and once again it put the crowd back on their hands. Little over 2 minutes later Daniel Welch and Will Finlay set up Reece Costain in front of Cougars 20-year-old stopper Evan Roch and he made no mistake knotting the score once again at 2. Costain's marker would end the flurry of scoring in the 1st frame however it would not be the end of the fireworks. Robert Zadra was whistled with a charging penalty at the 19:23 mark of the period and it set off a large melee with all players on the ice pushing and shoving. Panthers' Brett Sjerven and Cougars' Robert Zadra ended up dropping the gloves in the corner to the left of Heslop and after the spirited tilt, both were ejected from the game. But Sjerven gave a clear message to his mates if not to the Cougars and that was the Panthers were in the barn to play.
The two teams came out for the 2nd period and after going up and down the sheet it would be Connor Logan who opened the scoring when he deflected a point shot off the stick of Cody Breitenstein on the powerplay. Logan was placed right in front of Roch in the toughest area of ice to be and it was his tenacity which resulted in the Panthers first lead of the series. The puck was dropped and 17-year-old Josh Adkins moved the puck to Looysen who promptly wheeled into the Cougars' end. Being checked by two Cougars, the young sniper snapped a quick shot that fooled Roch and found nothing but net, and this only five seconds after the Logan tally. Surprisingly the Panorama roof was still in tact as the hardcore locals tried to blow it off. Looysen's goal gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead and sent Roch to the showers. Cougars' Michael Herringer took over between the pipes and would be perfect the rest of the way.
The two teams came out for the 3rd stanza and both had different things in mind. The home squad was looking to protect the 2-goal lead while for the Cougars it was to attack. And attack they did when Coulter beat Heslop on the powerplay with just a couple ticks over 7 minutes left in the game. Heslop made several key saves going down the stretch and with just a minute left in the contest, Herringer was pulled for the extra attacker. But it would be Adkins who would put the final rock in the slingshot when at 19:33 he gathered the puck near centre ice and carefully tossed it down towards the Cougars' gaping cage where it slid nicely to the heart. And it would be his marker that would set off a celebration both on the ice and in the stands.
"We loved to win the game, to crack the nut for the first time this season," explained Zubersky. Our kids celebrated on the ice but we realize that this is a best-of-7 and we are only now starting down the road. But you have to win one to win two and now we will be searching for that second win. There is so much work to do but last night for the first time this season I saw all hands on deck. I said it to a couple of the players, we had twenty kids out there who reminded me of Steve Simpson, one of our players who is a Panther forever and who had absolutlely no quit in him but is no longer with us. Character, Courage and Heart, that was Steve Simpson and I would have loved to have him here with us in this series. But last night we might have had 20 of him and I bet somewhere he is looking down and smiling right now."
Once again the two teams go at it in Esquimalt for Game 3 on Sunday and are then back for Game 4 Monday night at the Panorama - and hopefully little David has three more stones in his slingshot.
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