Ryan Stepien nets hat trick, as Panthers double up Huskies 8-4

By Thomas Becker

Rookie forward Ryan Stepien went off for a hat trick to help the UPEI Panthers upend the Saint Mary's Huskies 8-4 Friday night.

Matt Brassard assisted on four of those goals, while Kaleb Pearson finished with a goal and two assists for a Panthers (10-4-0) squad that has won five straight games and nine of their last 10. 

Joel Bishop and Keith Getson each had two points for the Huskies (7-6-0) in the loss. 

After the game, Stepien reflected of his career night. 

"Obviously it's a big change from junior to this and I'm finally starting to find my footing in terms of where I fit and how I play," he said. 

Whether it's shutting out opponents in close games or running opponents out of the arena with their offensive firepower, the Panthers have shown they can win in different ways. Tonight, it was the latter. 

"We're a tight-knit group and we're all willing to battle for each other," said Stepien as to why the team has been so successful this season. "We know we're a good team, and sometimes we can get down on ourselves. But we've just been keeping things positive and it seems to be working in our favour." 

Stepien got the scoring started just 2:34 into the first period when the freshman took the loose puck in the offensive zone and skated around a defender before firing a wrist shot past goaltender Matt Welsh. The sophomore was credited with 33 saves on a rough night between the pipes.

A little over five minutes later, RT Rice made a great defensive play in the defensive zone that allowed Kaleb Pearson to secure the puck and lead a two-on-one rush where he ultimately kept it and sniped a shot in the top right corner to make it 2-0.

A fortunate bounce benefitted the Huskies at 10:01 when Bishop skated around the net and centred a pass in front that hit a Panther skate and into the net, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1.

But the Panthers responded a little over a minute later as Pearson stole the puck in the neutral zone and found Jordan Maher crashing to the net, where he redirected it past Welsh by the far-side post. 

At that point, it looked like UPEI was ready to run away with the game, but the Huskies still had a lot to say in this one, as they stunned the home crowd with back-to-back goals late in the period.

First, it was defenceman Walter Flower III who took a loose puck off the side boards and fired a slap shot off the crossbar and in at 18:35. Then, with two seconds to spare, Andrew Coxhead put away the rebound off a Sam Dunn shot that netminder Jonah Capriotti couldn't contain. 

After a furious first period, the second frame was more of a defensive battle. Still, the red-hot Panthers managed to get one by Welsh. This time it was defenceman Kurtis Henry who pulled his ahead at 6:13 when he took a pass from Carson MacKinnon—who was surrounded by three Huskies—and wired home a wrist shot. 

Looking to end any hope of a comeback, twins Drake and Darian Pilon connected on UPEI's fifth goal of the night about three minutes into the third. Darian stripped the puck from a Saint Mary's defender and dropped a pass to Drake, who beat Welsh glove side with the smooth wrist shot.

Jonathan Hampton got the Huskies within a goal one last time before the Panthers erupted for three unanswered to put the game away.

With plenty of activity around the net, Troy Lajeunesse saw the puck slide along the side of the net, where the veteran forward fired a laser by the goalie for the power play marker at 13:14.

Sixteen seconds later, Richard Whittaker stole the puck in the offensive zone and quickly got a pass off to Stepien, who made a couple moves on the goalie before sliding a backhand in the back of the net.

Stepien recorded the hat trick at 17:28 when Welsh couldn't clear the puck behind the net, which allowed Stepien to pick it off and put away the easy goal to close out the 8-4 win.

The Panthers look to make it six straight when they travel to Antigonish to take on the St. FX X-Men next Friday, while the Huskies play host to the Acadia Axemen later tonight.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan