The Kerry Park Islanders finally found a way to halt the Peninsula Panthers' 14-game win streak.
The Islanders, despite being outshot 52-35, defeated the Panthers 6-4 Sunday afternoon at the Kerry Park Arena in Mill Bay, to hand the Panthers – playing their third game in less than 72 hours – just their second loss in regulation time this season.
The rare triple-header, the only time the Panthers have such an occurrence this season, began Friday night for the Panthers, as they hosted the Port Alberni Bombers at Panorama Recreation Centre and came away with a hard-fought 3-1 victory.
They then travelled to Comox for a Saturday night game against the Glacier Kings, emerging with a decisive 6-2 win, before returning home late and then heading back over the Malahat for a quick turnaround and 3 p.m. start in Kerry Park.
Despite the earlier-than-normal start, the Panthers held their own with Kerry Park, trailing 3-2 after two periods of play, but in the third, the Islanders came alive, outshooting the Panthers 14-12 for the period and scoring two quick goals to jump to a 5-2 lead.
The Panthers would respond with a pair from Alex Sajan and Joe Marranzino to make it close, but another Islander goal with just over two minutes remaining, sealed the deal for the Islanders and took the remaining fight out of a weary Peninsula squad.
Despite the loss, it was not all bad news for the Panthers. They still hold down first place overall in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, holding a five-point lead over second-place Westshore in the South and a six-point lead over first-place Campbell River in the North.
The line of Jacob Caron, Carson Harris and Lucas Ananias continues to be on fire. They combined for two goals and four assists in Sunday’s game and have now combined for 60 points in the last 15 games.
Goaltender Jacob Walsh also continues to be perfect on the season (10-0-0) following his starts on Friday against Port Alberni and Saturday against Comox. He now leads all goalies in the league with a 2.08 goals against average and .927 save percentage.
The Panthers now enjoy a well-deserved few days off and then get ready to host the Westshore Wolves on Friday night at Panorama Recreation Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors (ages 60+), $9 for youth (ages 13-18) and $2 for kids 12 and under. Also, for every kid’s ticket sold in the regular season, the Murphy Family Foundation will donate $1 US to the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association.
