Port Moody Black Panthers will need softer hands when they go fishing Saturday to spear the Richmond Sockeyes.
The stick-gripping Cats were jolted 2-1 Tuesday by the visiting North Delta Devils, leaving PoMo's Pacific International Jr. 'B' hockey league team with a paltry seven goals in its last three games.
In fact, seven goals may not be enough in one contest against the explosive Sockeyes, who've struck net 14 times in their last three outings and have lost only five of 39 games this season.
Game time is 7:45 p.m. at PoMo Rec Complex.
The Cats had numerous opportunities to make it back-to-back wins over the Devils, said Black Panthers general manager Ron Luniw, whose team won the first game of a doubleheader 2-1 in overtime last Saturday in North Delta.
"In the second period alone [Tuesday], we had, what I counted, seven golden [scoring] opportunities," Luniw groused. "But when we shot the puck, we didn't hit the net. Watching guys come off the ice shaking their heads is not the answer. We have to get to the net more and [our players] have to sacrifice their body.
"It's all about putting the puck in the net and finishing. If you don't put the puck in the net, you're eliminated in four games in the playoffs, and they're coming fast."
The 20-15-6 Cats are down to their final five regular-season games and sit five points back of the Harold Brittain Conference-leading Abbotsford Pilots, who appear to have a lock on first place in the five-team race.
Luniw said his second-place team is merely looking to get on a roll heading into playoffs, and a victory over the always-sound Sockeyes -- whom the Cats haven't defeated in three seasons -- would be a great start.
On the bright side, the Cats and goalie Nicholas Taylor have allowed a paltry three markers in their last three contests, two of which were victories.
"We're not giving the puck away as much as we used to," said Luniw, commending Cats head coach Ron Johnson for working of late at cementing the team's defensive corps. "He stresses is you can't play defence, you can't play -- period."
Jamie Liveley netted the Cats' lone marker Tuesday, tallying with just 3:24 remaining to spoil Devils goalie Alexander Wind's shutout bid. Wind finished with 28 saves, while Taylor made 29 stops in a losing cause.
Three of the Cats' final five regular-season games are at home, including a Feb. 12 meeting with the Ridge Meadows Flames.
