The Panthers had a game plan and they played it to perfection in Game 1 in Stouffville – pressure the Spirit to disrupt their breakouts, take advantage of opportunities and rely on Anthony Sciere to do his thing in net.
Pickering relied on secondary scoring in this game from Ty Robar, Jack Dean and Evan Elliott. Robar got it going mid-way through the opening period as he broke in on the right wing and buried it in the far corner to put the Panthers up 1-0. Jack Dean, traded from Stouffville to the Panthers earlier in the season, took a breakaway pass from Evan Elliott and made no mistake as Pickering jumped ahead 2-0 in the middle of the second. The Spirit responded with their only goal of the game on a power play three minutes later.
In the third, the Panthers put on a full court press, frustrating the Spirit attack. Evan Elliott stuck in the dagger when he picked up a loose puck at the blue line and converted the breakaway for the insurance goal with about six minutes remaining. The victory was all but insured when the Spirit received a match penalty for checking from behind with just over two minutes remaining in the game. As a result, Kyle Secko required assistance to leave the ice.
Anthony Sciere was phenomenal in this game, allowing only one PP goal on 34 shots. The Panthers are right back at it for Game 2 in Pickering, Sunday night at 7:30 pm.
