Aigles Bleus defeat Huskies 5-1 to force decisive Game 5

(HALIFAX, N.S.) The Moncton Aigles Bleus defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 5-1 in Game 4 of the semifinal series of the Bell AUS Men's Hockey Championship on Tuesday night at the Dauphinee Centre. 

It took just over a minute of action for the Aigles Bleus to open the scoring, as they took advantage of a powerplay opportunity with forward Charles-Edouard Drouin (St-Georges-de-Beauce, QC) received a pass from defenceman Jacob Dion (Sherbrooke, QC) and fired a shot that beat Huskies netminder Justin Sumarah (Halifax, NS), giving the visitors a 1-0 lead, 1:22 into the first period. 

Several minutes later, the Aigles Bleus capitalized on another powerplay, with Jacob Dion firing a point shot that snuck past a heavily screened Sumarah to make it 2-0 Moncton, 6:46 into the first. 

The Huskies got one back thanks to forward Ben Boyd (Dartmouth, NS), who received a pass from linemate Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) and fired a well-placed wrist shot that beat Aigles Bleus goaltender Nathan Darveau (Rouyn-Noranda, QC) to cut the lead to 2-1, 14:24 into the first period. 

But the dangerous Moncton powerplay got another chance before the period was over and took advantage, with forward Michael Cyr (Sainte-Anne, NB) lifting a high shot over the shoulder of Sumarah to make it 3-1, 15:34 into the first period. 

The Aigles Bleus outshot the Huskies 14-6 in the opening period, and took a 3-1 lead into first intermission. 

In the opening 10 minutes of the second period, the officials gave the Aigles Bleus two more powerplay opportunities, but Justin Sumarah was solid and at times spectacular, robbing Charles-Edouard Drouin with a glove save. 

Several minutes later, Sumarah made another huge save, stopping Jeremie Jacob (Dieppe, NB) on a breakaway.  

But the Aigles Bleus were able to add to their lead when forward Remy Anglehart (Gascon, QC) pounced on a rebound and stuffed it past Sumarah to make it 4-1, 15:12 in the second period. 

Moncton outshot Saint Mary's 20-16 in the second period, and took a 4-1 lead into second intermission. 

The third period saw the physicality ramp up as both teams looked to set the tone for the upcoming pivotal game five, with several penalties being doled out to both teams. The Aigles Bleus added a late goal from forward Nathael Roy (Levis, QC) at 13:58 of the third period, sealing the 5-1 Moncton win. 

The Aigles Bleus outshot the Huskies 45-33 on the night, with Nathan Darveau stopping 32 shots for the win, while Justin Sumarah made 40 saves in defeat.  

With the win, the Aigles Bleus equal the best-of-five semifinal at 2-2, setting up a win-or-go-home game five on Thursday, March 6, at J. Louis-Levesque Arena in Moncton, NB. The winner of that game will punch their ticket to the AUS Final and U SPORTS Nationals, while the losing team's season will come to an end. 

Source: Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics