Panthers face elimination after Game 1 loss to Moncton
Ever since the turn of the new year, the UPEI Panthers have been a shadow of their former selves—a team that was ranked as high as fifth in the U SPORTS national rankings.
By Thomas Becker
Ever since the turn of the new year, the UPEI Panthers have been a shadow of their former selves—a team that was ranked as high as fifth in the U SPORTS national rankings.
Since then, the third-seeded Panthers have dropped out the rankings, lost their second-place spot, and now have their backs against the wall after falling in Game 1 of a best-of-three quarter-final series to the sixth-place Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus in overtime 4-3.
And what's more, is the Panthers had a 3-1 lead with less than 10 minutes to play before Moncton stole the game from an opponent that hasn't won a playoff game since the 2018-19 season.
The takeover began at the 10:49 mark when William Basque gathered the puck along the side boards and delivered a short pass to Alexandre Couture in the slot, where he sniped a wrist shot by goaltender Jonah Capriotti.
The Aigles Bleus would tie it up on a goal from Denis Toner with less than a minute remaining. On the scoring play, Capriotti surrendered a long rebound off a shot from Thomas Cuisson that Toner snuck by the diving keeper.
With all the momentum on their side, Moncton went into the overtime period with a lot of confidence and came out of it with a big win. At 2:52, Basque got behind the defence and put away a rebound off a casual shot from Samuel Guilbault that bounced off Capriotti and landed in front of the net for the prime scoring opportunity.
"I passed it to my buddy and the only thing that came to mind was to drive toward the net where the puck was lying there," said Basque of his game-winner.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy," he said of the emotional win. "They (UPEI) built this team to win a championship, so we had to keep it simple—work hard, believe in ourselves—and that's what happened tonight."
As for the Panthers, they're once again searching for answers after surrendering another lead.
It started out great for them as they opened the scoring thirteen minutes into the first period when TJ Shea took the puck from the point a fired a wrist shot in the top left corner for the power play goal.
Moncton evened the score 3:22 into the second period on Toner's first goal of the game. Cusson fed a cross-ice pass to the wide-open defender, who slung a wrist shot by the sprawling netminder.
However, the Panthers reclaimed the lead at 11:03 when Kyle Maksimovich casually skated the puck along the boards before passing it to Troy Lajeunesse at the top of the left circle, where he fired a laser of a one-timer by Étienne Montpetit, who didn't stand a chance.
UPEI added to their lead on a power play goal from Lajeunesse, who passed it back and forth with Maksimovich before firing a slap shot from the right circle 6:59 into the third stanza.
The Panthers looked like they had firm control of the game, but then it all unravelled, as Moncton rallied for the win and sent the home crowd stunned and disappointed.
Still, the series isn't over. The Panthers will get an opportunity to exorcise their playoff demons Friday night when they travel to Moncton for a must-win Game 2.
Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan
