The Pickering Panthers let a three-goal lead slip away on Thanksgiving Sunday, falling 5-4 to the visiting Lindsay Muskies in a game that ended the visitors' nine-game losing streak, according to a report on the Pickering Panthers' website.
Pickering came out flying in the first period, building a 3-0 lead while outshooting Lindsay 19-5. Gage Brandon scored twice in the opening frame, and Tyler Bruce added his seventh goal of the season.
The momentum flipped completely from there. The Muskies rattled off five straight goals to take a 5-3 lead, a run that included a shorthanded marker that came after a pair of Pickering turnovers.
The Panthers pulled their goalie late, and Bruce answered with his second of the game — his eighth of the season — with just over a minute left in regulation. Pickering got no closer, and the Muskies skated away with their first win in nearly a month.
Jacob Gibbons took the loss in net for Pickering, stopping 26 shots.
Home date ahead
The Panthers won't have to wait long for a chance to bounce back. They return to home ice Friday, Oct. 16, when they host the Newmarket Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m.
The loss is a frustrating one for a Pickering side that had the game firmly in hand through 20 minutes. Giving up five unanswered goals, including one while shorthanded, turned a dominant start into a defeat the team will want to put behind it quickly before Friday's matchup.
Fans can catch the Panthers' next action at their home arena this Friday night.
