Panthers beat injury-plagued Royals

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

They’re filled with high intensity, often produce stunning upsets, and in essence, are what local amateur puck players and enthusiasts wait for since training camp.

They’re the Lac St. Louis Hockey Association regional double-letter playoffs, and things got underway in earnest last weekend at various area arenas. Those who dropped by the Dollard des Ormeaux Civic Centre were treated to a slew of bantam AA games, including Sunday afternoon’s Lions Division match up between traditional rivals Lakeshore Panthers and West Island Royals. Both teams entered the contest off opening-round victories on Saturday. The Panthers shut out the Deux Rives Dauphins 4-0 and the Royals doubled up on the Dollard/Versant Ouest Vipers 6-3.

In a nail-biter, forward Nicholas Samoluk scored with 1:54 left to play in a five-minute overtime period to give the Panthers a 4-3 win. As a result, the Panthers now have two opportunities to not only capture a Lac St. Louis playoff championship but advance to the prestigious provincial tournament next month in the Richelieu region. The Royals meantime, face a long road ahead if they hope to take that route. Not only must they defeat the Vipers again tomorrow night at the Civic Centre in a sudden-death affair, they must also beat the Panthers twice in a row, with the first game taking place Sunday afternoon at the Civic Centre. That won’t be an easy chore, though, considering they are missing their top goal-scorer in Stéphane Fournier and forward Sean Langton as well due to injuries. Both did not play last weekend, and likely won’t in the foreseeable future.

“Our guys came through, even when goals were scored against us to put us down,” said Panthers head coach Claude Francis. “They showed a lot of intensity out there against a Royals team that refused to quit, even though it was short some key players. You know, there’s little to choose between the two teams. You can flip a coin to see who will win.”

If not for some exceptional work by Panthers goaltender Marc-André Menard during the first half of the second period, the game might have had a different storyline. It could have easily been 3-0 Royals at that point. Instead, his efforts kept the game scoreless and allowed Samoluk to put the Panthers up 1-0 with a little over four minutes left in the middle frame before Eric Rochefort scored two consecutive goals a little over a minute apart to give the Royals a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

Matthew Bissonnette, arguably the best Panthers forward on the day, not only evened it up 2-2 with four minutes left in the third, but put his team up 3-2 with his second of the game a couple of minutes later. Rochefort, however, completed his hat trick with a little over two minutes left in regulation time to send the game into overtime.

“I’m still proud of my boys,” said Royals head coach Kirk Mullen. “We came into this game with mixed lines but they still battled hard. We won’t give up.”