Panthers’ complete effort sinks Moncton 7-0

By Thomas Becker

The UPEI Panthers returned home after a tough road trip and delivered their most complete effort to date, as they pounded the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus 7-0 Wednesday night.

Sophomore forward Jesse Sutton led the way with a natural hat trick, while Kyle Maksimovich added a pair of goals. TJ Shea, Owen Headrick and Danil Antropov each had two assists in the win. And with 28 saves, goaltender Jonah Capriotti recorded his second shutout of the season. 

Following two consecutive losses, Sutton said the team was looking at this game as an opportunity to get back in the win column and wanted to take advantage of a Moncton (2-6-1) team searching for wins themselves. 

"We needed a win," he said. "We lost too many games in a row that we needed, so to come back here and get a win is huge."

The Panthers, who improved to 3-0-1 at home, have proven they can compete against anyone, but their Jekyll and Hyde performances at home versus on the road has led to their 4-4-1 record. 

"I'm not sure exactly what it is," Sutton said about their disappointing 1-3 road record. "I feel like we have to play a full 60 minutes. We've been in every game, but it's been a couple minutes each game where we're giving up a few goals at a time. We just have to clean that up." 

After a slow start to the game, UPEI found the back of the net midway through the first period when Darian Pilon took a long feed from Shea and centred it to Troy Lajeunesse, who beat Étienne Montpetit glove side. 

They'd capitalize on another blown defensive assignment less than three minutes later. After Headrick sent Maksimovich in alone with a long pass from his own zone, the sophomore forward didn't disappoint, as he made a move on Montpetit before sliding one by him to make it 2-0.

The Panthers struck again off a faceoff win midway through the second when Shea weaved through the defence and passed it to Maksimovich, who snuck a backhand past the goaltender for his second of the night.

Looking to end their two-game losing streak, Sutton and the Panthers delivered a haymaker to the Aigles Bleus with a four-goal third period.

Sutton scored three in the period with the first coming off another faceoff win, as he took the puck, skated toward the near post and jammed it home at 3:06 for the 4-0 advantage. Then, at 9:31, Sutton took a long pass from Antropov, skated by the defender and cut toward the net before beating Montpetit. Two minutes later, Sutton found success at the net again, where he tipped home Andrew Picco's shot from the point which extended the lead to 6-0.

Kaleb Pearson added his fourth of the season at 16:45 when Lajeunesse drove toward the net and crossed it to the rookie forward, who easily put away the redirect to secure the 7-0 win.

Panthers head coach Forbes MacPherson said he's not one to talk much about offence, but he knew he needed to shake things up after his team came into the game scoring the second-fewest goals in the conference. Without revealing much, MacPherson simply said it worked. 

"We worked on a couple ideas and the puck went in for us tonight," he said. "Hopefully it continues."

The Panthers look to make it two wins in a row when they welcome the UNB Reds for a Saturday night tilt at 7 p.m.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan