Rookie netminder Jonah Capriotti shines, but Panthers drop home opener thriller 3-2 in overtime

By Thomas Becker

Thanks to Tyler Boland's overtime heroics, the UNB Reds earned a tough 3-2 road win against the UPEI Panthers Friday night.

The Reds capitalized with the man advantage a minute and half into the extra frame when Kade Landry found Boland in the left circle where the fourth-year forward buried the game-winning one-timer.

Big moments like that never get old, said Boland. 

"It's always a battle here at UPEI, so to get the win tonight was incredible." 

The Reds record now sits at a perfect 2-0 after two close games, but Boland insists his team is just scratching the surface of their potential.

"There's still plenty to improve upon, but we're on the right foot," Boland said. "This team excites me and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year." 

The first period was a defensive grind as both teams limited their opponent's chances. But the Reds, as they so often do, took advantage of a miscue and turned it into a scoring chance. With three minutes remaining in the period, Richard Whittaker's pass was picked off, setting up a three-on-run opportunity. On the odd man rush, Nicolas Guay fed Austen Keating, who fired it off Jonah Capriotti's glove before Guay put away the easy rebound giving UNB the 1-0 lead heading into the break.

The Panthers responded early in the second when Owen Headrick aimlessly slung shot on net leading to a long rebound that rookie forward Danil Antropov put away at 3:27.

Capriotti, meanwhile, made a lasting impression, as he turned aside 38 saves for the Panthers. None was bigger than his sensational diving save on Thomas Casey's shot that was set up perfectly by Boland in front of the net. 

After the game, Capriotti reflected on a memorable night in which he earned the opening day start and put on a show.

"I battled and gave it everything," he said. "Like you saw out there, there's a couple saves where you just have to throw yourself at it. It's never going to be an easy game, especially against them." 

That big save kept the game tied at one, but it didn't faze the Reds, who scored with two minutes remaining in the game on a go-ahead goal by Samuel Dove-McFalls off another rebound.

The Panthers could've given up at that moment, but with eight seconds to spare Kyle Maksimovich drove hard at the net following a Kaleb Pearson shot and managed to get the puck by goaltender Rylan Parenteau sending the game to overtime.

Moments after squaring the game, Maksimovich was called for a costly tripping penalty 24 seconds into overtime, and for a team as prolific as the Reds that's all they needed to come away with win, as Boland made them pay with the winner. 

UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson applauded his team's effort, especially since they were playing shorthanded with just three lines as opposed to UNB's four.

"Right from the puck drop we had a game plan and we executed it," he said. "We're very proud of the team. They (UNB) are the standard teams want to reach and we met that standard tonight."

The Panthers look to build off their strong performance when they travel to Moncton tomorrow (Oct. 9) to take on the Aigles Bleus.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan