Unlike their last outing against the Rangers, Pickering was looking for a strong start in the return match against North York, and they got exactly that. The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on two goals from Angelo Protopapas, the second coming on a Pickering power play. They added two more in the second from Cayden O’Hearn (third of the season) and Kyle Secko (second) to take a 4-0 lead.
Peter Smith made it 5-0 just over a minute into the third with his 12th of the season, and Protopapas completed his hat trick three minutes later to push the lead to 6-0. The only blemish on the night came about a minute later, as the Rangers broke Daniel Giusti’s shutout bid. Jack Dean closed out the scoring with his second goal in as many games since joining the Panthers, sealing an 8-1 win.
On Saturday, the Cats made the short trip to Stouffville to take on the conference-leading Spirit in a game that was a complete contrast to the night before. It was a tight defensive battle with no scoring through two periods. Stouffville opened the scoring two minutes into the third, but Devon Ferroni answered six minutes later with a power-play goal to tie the game.
An untimely Pickering penalty at 16:08 led to the go-ahead power-play goal for Stouffville, and the Spirit added an empty-netter to secure the 3-1 victory.
This marked the final game of 2025 for the Panthers. With a record of 22-10-1-1 and 44 points, Pickering sits tied for third place in the Eastern Conference, nine points behind the first-place Spirit. With several injured players still sidelined, the Panthers look forward to seeing what a full roster can accomplish over the remaining two months of the regular season. New players added over the past few months have played a significant role in the team’s success.
Recent Player Production
Matt Indovina: 11 GP, 9 G, 9 A, 18 PTS
Jake Mallory: 9 GP, 5 G, 4 A, 9 PTS
Angelo Protopapas: 6 GP, 5 G, 3 A, 8 PTS
Peter Smith: 23 GP, 12 G, 16 A, 28 PTS
