The Embrun Panthers travelled to the Barbara Ann Scott Arena in Ottawa to take on the Ottawa West Golden Knights on Thurs., March 1, for game three of the best of three CCHL2 Wildcard series. The team went into the game tied at one game apiece so the winner of the game would move on to face the first-place Casselman Vikings. The Panthers scored two first-period goals and played a tight defensive game upsetting the fourth place Golden Knights 3-1. The Panthers celebrate after the win.    Sawyer Helmer photo

Jeff Moore
Record Staff
OTTAWA – The Embrun Panthers finished the season in fifth place three points behind the Ottawa West Golden Knights in fourth and played a best of three wildcard series to take the fourth seed with the winner moving on to face the Casselman Vikings.

Panthers 3 Golden Knights 1: The Panthers travelled to the Barbara Ann Scott Arena in Ottawa to take on the Ottawa West Golden Knights on Thurs., March 1, for game three of the best of three CCHL2 Wildcard series. After taking the game in double overtime back in Embrun, the Panthers looked to put away the Golden Knights with a win and go on to face the Casselman Vikings who were waiting for a winner to be decided.

The Panthers opened the scoring at 7:02 of the first period as Griffin Patterson scored on a rebound from Nathan Brown to take a 1-0 lead. The Panthers made it 2-0 as Andrew Burke pounced on a rebound at 7:54 from Martin Carriere and Joey Larcher. The Panthers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, despite being outshot 17-15. The Golden Knights got to within one as George Young scored from Kyle Fleming and Matthew Bidin at 9:51 of the second period. The Panthers restored their two-goal lead when Marc Brosseau scored on a ­partial breakaway down the left hand side shooting it low blocker side at 12:36 from Sam Tremblay and Michael Armstrong. The Golden Knights’ Franco Gagnon absolutely lost it as he tried to fight the Panthers’ Jeremy Barrie with just 29 seconds remaining. Gagnon was not done. As Barrie shrugged him off he threw a punch at the linesman who was trying to break up the melee and was assessed a minor penalty for roughing, a match penalty for abusing the official and a 10-minute misconduct for inciting an opponent for a total of seven minutes and was tossed from the game.

The Panthers took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. The Panthers opened the third period with a little over six minutes on the power play but play cautious not giving up a scoring chance but they were unable to capitalize. After the penalties were served, the Panthers took a two-minute interference penalty allowing the Golden Knight a chance to get to within one but the Panthers’ defence and goalie Jean Pascal Sabourin kept the Golden Knights’ offence at bay.

With just under two minutes remaining, the Golden Knights pulled their goalie to try pull out all the stops but the Panthers’ defence held them off and took the game 3-1, ending the Golden Knights’ season.

With the win, the Panthers move on to face the Casselman Vikings to renew an old rivalry. Picking up the win in the Panthers’ goal was Sabourin making 39 saves on 40 shots and suffering the loss in the Golden Knights’ goal was Chris Cuglietta making 35 saves on 38 shots.

Panthers 3 Golden Knights 2 (2OT): The Panthers welcomed the Ottawa West Golden Knights to the Palais des Sports on Wed., Feb. 28, for game two of the best of three in the CCHL2 Wildcats series. The Golden Knights took game one in a strange ending scoring just a few seconds after the Panthers tied the game with just seconds on the clock.

The Panthers looked to tighten things up defensively in game two. It didn’t look good early on as the Golden Knights scored just 1:39 into the opening frame as Adam Goodfellow snapped one to the back of the net from George Young and Kyle Fleming. The Panthers narrowly outshot the Golden Knights 14-13 but trailed 1-0 heading into the first intermission. The Panthers knotted the affair as Andrew Burke fired one home from Jeremy Barrie and Joey Larcher at 15:07 of the second period.

The Panthers took their first lead of the game when Marc Brosseau slid one to the back of the net from Noah Haymes just 27 seconds later. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. The Golden Knights tied the game at the 16-minute mark as Luke Mulvihill sniped one from Cameron Scrivens to make it two all. The Panthers outshot the Golden Knights 11-8 but could not find the back of the net so the game headed to a one-minute overtime frame. The Panthers outshot the Golden Knights again in the first overtime 4-2 but the teams headed to the dressing room after the first overtime still knotted at two.

The Panthers started to control more of the play in the second overtime period and it finally paid off as Jacob Lamont buried the game winner at 13:46 of double overtime from Nathan Brown and Philippe Brunet, taking the game 3-2 and tying the series at one. With the win, the Panthers force a game three back in Ottawa. Picking up the win in the Panthers’ goal was Jean Pascal Sabourin making 28 saves on 30 shots and suffering the loss in the Golden Knights’ goal was Chris Cuglietta making 60 saves on 63 shots.

Golden Knights 4 Panthers 3: The Panthers travelled to the Barbara Ann Scott Arena in Ottawa to take on the Ottawa West Golden Knights on Mon., Feb. 26, for game one of the best of three CCHL2 Wildcard series. The Panthers who for the entire season held either second or third place in the Martin Division but in the last couple of weeks faded down to fifth place with the Golden Knights moving into fourth, meaning the Panthers lost home ice advantage for the series.

The Golden Knights opened the scoring at 11:30 of the first period as Luke Mulvihill scored a power-play goal from Cameron Scrivens and ex-Panther Sam Wilson. The Golden Knights took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Golden Knights made it 2-0 as ex-Winchester Hawks player Franco Gagnon scored from Daniel Stratis and Mulvihill at 3:17 again on the power play. The Panthers cut the deficit in half when Jeremy Barrie fired one home from Andrew Burke and Sam Tremblay at 7:23. The Golden Knights returned the favour as Adam Goodfellow slipped one home from Kyle Fleming at 14:20 and took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

The Panthers got to within one as Mark Morrison scored on a delayed penalty from Justin Gagnon at 11:07 to make it 3-2. With time winding down, the Panthers pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker and it worked out perfectly as Barrie snapped one to the back of the net off a rebound with just eight seconds remaining in regulation from Justin Brennan and Marc Brosseau on the power play. The Panthers seemed content to just let the time expire off the clock and head to overtime but the Golden Knights had something else in mind. The Golden Knights won the face off forward and their centreman Cameron Scrivens split the two forwards and went in two on one with Mulvihill. Scrivens passed to Mulvihill who roofed it with just three seconds remaining on the clock.

The Golden Knights took the game 4-3, taking game one as the two teams headed to Embrun for game two. Picking up the win in the Golden Knights’ goal was Chris Cuglietta making 48 saves on 51 shots and suffering the loss in the Panthers’ goal was Jean Pascal Sabourin making 33 saves on 37 shots.