Panthers rediscover dominant form in win over Moncton
With the playoffs right around the corner, the UPEI Panthers need to rediscover the rhythm and confidence they had before the new year when they were considered one of the country’s elite teams.
By Thomas Becker
With the playoffs right around the corner, the UPEI Panthers need to rediscover the rhythm and confidence they had before the new year when they were considered one of the country's elite teams.
Since then, the Panthers (17-9-3) have faced some adversity and the results have reflected that. Injuries and inconsistent play have plagued them over the last eight games in which they sport a 2-4-2 record. But Wednesday night's 4-2 win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus may have been a step in the right direction.
"It's huge right now," said Drake Pilon of the importance of these last two regular season games. "We had a little bit of adversity, but it's good to get it out of the way before playoffs so that we can get going again at the right time."
With UPEI's top forward (Troy Lajeunesse) and defenceman (Matt Brassard) sidelined, Pilon was one of several Panthers who stepped up their game and led the team to a much-needed win. The third-year forward put up a goal and an assist to lead the way, while Ian Smallwood, Kaleb Pearson and Jaden Peca each found the back of the net. Danil Antropov chipped in with two helpers.
"We had guys missing from the lineup and we had an opportunity to rise to the occasion," Pilon said. "It was the first time playing with Peca and Antropov and the line was just clicking tonight."
The Panthers opened the scoring at 8:55 of the first period when Peca gathered the puck along the side boards and passed it back to Smallwood, who fired a slap shot from the point past Étienne Montpetit for the opening goal.
Less than two minutes later, the Panthers doubled their lead on power play goal. Carson MacKinnon flipped a pass to Pilon, who took a couple strides toward the left circle before roofing a wrist shot by the netminder.
Similar to the first period, the Panthers scored two goals in quick succession. With 4:10 remaining in the second period, the puck cycled to Pearson, who took a couple steps toward the net and a snapped wrist shot past the keeper for the power play marker.
The next goal came off a faceoff win just 1:40 later when Peca took the puck toward the slot and wired a wrist shot by Montpetit to make it 4-0 heading into the third period.
Looking to get back in the game, the Aigles Bleus (11-16-2) came out strong and finally got one past goaltender Jonah Capriotti, who had a quiet night turning aside 21 shots. On a power play at 7:47, Vincent Deslauriers put away a loose puck in front of the net after Thomas Pelletier skated down the right side and fed a pass to Remy Anglehart, who couldn't get a shot off, leaving the door open for Deslauriers.
Moncton took advantage of a Panther miscue and made them pay at 16:22. Smallwood fanned on a pass near his own net, which allowed William Basque to take the puck and leave it in front for Thomas Cusson, who beat Capriotti, cutting the deficit in half 4-2, where it would stand the rest of the way.
The Panthers travel to Fredericton this Friday where they'll take on the UNB Reds for their final regular season game, while the Aigles Bleus battle the Reds on Saturday.
Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan
