The Port Moody Panthers emerged from a tough weekend of games against a pair of top Pacific International Junior Hockey League teams without a point. But the two one-goal losses may give them encouragement.
The Panthers, who have only five wins going into Thursday’s game against the Richmond Sockeyes, lost 5-4 to the Harold Brittain conference leading Abbotsford Pilots last Friday in Abbotsford, then dropped a 2-1 decision Saturday in Port Moody to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack, who sit in second place in the Tom Shaw conference.
Against Abbotsford, a goal by the Pilots’ Noah Wiebe with 1:13 left in regulation was the difference after the Panthers had managed to battle back from a 3-0 deficit at the end of the first period. Jaxan Lepp and Kevin Allen scored in the second to bring Port Moody back to within a goal fo the hosts.
Mateo Toledo gave the Pilots a bit of breathing room when he scored unassisted in the first minute of the third period, but goals by Allen and Alexander McGovern less than five minutes apart got the Panthers on even terms.
Abbotsford outshot Port Moody 31-23.
Saturday in Port Moody, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead into the third period before the Wolf Pack scored a pair of unanswered goals in the third period to steal the win.
Allen scored his third goal in two nights for the Panthers and was named the game’s third star. Goalie Alexander Kong stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced while Port Moody fired 33 shots at the North Vancouver net.
The Panthers will host the Langley Trappers Saturday, 7:45 p.m., at the Port Moody Arena.
