Overtime curse? Panthers lose third straight in OT

By Thomas Becker

The Panthers dropped their third consecutive overtime game, this time 2-1 at the hands of the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus Saturday afternoon.

Brittany Poitras was the hero, scoring the game-winner off a rebound from her own shot. But it was the great play of goaltender and Subway Player of the Game, Gabrielle Forget, who was the difference in the game with her 20 saves.

"It's always big when you win overtime," Forget said. "I believed my team would get that goal and I wasn't about to let any more goals in."

The Panthers (2-4-4) opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the game on a leak out in the neutral zone. Leah Byrne found Jenna Pellerin to her left, who sniped it past Gabrielle Forget to take the early 1-0 advantage. And that's all she would surrender.

"I knew the first goal was mistake and I knew I had to step up my game and be there for my team," Forget said.

UPEI's defence was strong throughout the period, especially on the penalty kill as they held Moncton to just three shots on net, despite having one less man on the ice for four minutes. 

Early in the second, the Aigles Bleus (5-3-1) returned the favour as Katryn Villeneuve squared it up at one aside on a great individual effort to beat keeper Megan Sullivan. However, the goaltender was effective for the remainder of the period, stopping 12 of the 13 shots she faced in the frame.

On the other end, Forget matched Sullivan shot-for-shot after surrendering the early-game tally, stopping the Panthers' attack at every turn. She was especially strong down the stretch making several highlight worthy saves to send the game to overtime.

There, Poitras delivered the final blow in the dying minutes of overtime on a great individual effort by following up her missed shot to score the game winner.

The Panthers look to get back in the win column when they welcome the visiting St. Thomas Tommies to town on Nov. 15. Puck drops at 7 p.m.