The midget AA Northeast Panthers kicked off their season with a tie against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers at the R.J. Lalonde arena this past Saturday, despite dominating the game as they outshot the visitors 35-19.
According to Colin Verbinsky, team manager and assistant coach for the game, the Panthers started with a short bench and lost a few players during the course of the game.
It was a close game, tied going into the second period at 1-1. The Rangers took the lead seven minutes into the second, but it didn't last long as the Panthers rallied and tied it up with 6:22 left in the period.
After some pretty aggressive defense on the Panthers' part, they regained possession of the puck and scored again with 4:57 to go in period two, taking the lead, 3-2.
The Rangers tied it up before the end of the second, however, bouncing the puck off the Panthers' goalie and into the net with 2:31 remaining.
Despite a five-on-three power play near the end of the third, the Panthers were unable to take the lead and the third period remained scoreless.
After the game, Verbinsky said, “I thought it was a really good game. We battled hard.”
He added he was pleased with how the players performed, despite having a short bench at the beginning of the game and losing more players along the way.
“I'm very happy with the remaining players that I had and how they battled through that,” he said. “It was a physical game, and we came up a little short at the end there when we had the power play, but overall, we're very happy with the team we put together. We're looking forward to having our entire team out there and look forward to a rematch.”
He has confidence in the team's potential for the season, saying, “Oh, I think the team that we've put together has the potential to be the champions, no doubt about that in my mind.”
The Panthers play next in Wainwright on Saturday.
