(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - Thursday night, Cam Braes scored a pair, Nick MacNeil assisted on both and added a goal of his own, and Phil Halley and Cam Critchlow each scored as UNB took Game 2 of the Subway AUS men's hockey championship semifinals 5-2 to tie the best 3-of-5 series at one apiece.
The V-Reds solved Saint Mary's netminder Anthony Peters - who stopped 50 shots the night before in a double-overtime win - by crashing the net and scoring from around the crease and Braes said it was all part of the game plan.
"He's a great goaltender in this league and he's capable of stealing games," Braes said. "We just wanted a little more traffic in net to make it a little harder for him. With any goalie, whenever you bring pressure to the net and shoot for his pads, he'll give up some rebounds."
Braes and Halley each scored two minutes apart midway through the first off of rebounds. Braes scored his second with 1:35 to go in the frame, as UNB led 3-0 going into the first intermission.
Critchlow stretched UNB's lead six minutes into the second, off a give-and-go with Tyler Carroll.
After Ryan Hillier got the Huskies on the board after forcing a neutral zone turnover and sniping a wrister top corner on V-Reds goalie Charlie Lavigne, MacNeil restored the four-goal lead on a second-chance opportunity off the side of the Saint Mary's net.
Stephen Johnston scored the lone goal of the third period on the power-play, but it was too little too late. Head coach Trevor Stienburg said UNB didn't do much differently; his team just didn't do what they had to.
"They just capitalized on their opportunities. Our first period, we made some blundering mistakes," Stienburg said. "They played well. Two of their goals they just had guys standing in front of the net pounding away at rebounds and they got it. There's nobody to blame but ourselves."
Lavigne stopped 18 shots for his first career AUS playoff win, while Chris Culligan moved into second in V-Reds all-time career points ahead of former V-Reds standout Rob Hennigar.
The series now shifts to Halifax for Game 4 on Friday night.
Source: Nick Murray for UNB Sports Information