Second no more: Huskies pass Panthers in standings after Friday’s 5-2 win

By Thomas Becker

For the first time in about three months, the UPEI Panthers find themselves in an unfamiliar spot: third place. 

The Saint Mary's Huskies flipped positions with the Panthers (15-8-2) after defeating them 5-2 Friday night in Charlottetown. 

Both teams are trending in opposite directions, and with a first-round bye on the line, it doesn't bode well for a Panthers squad that owns an uncharacteristic 1-3-1 record in their last five games. The Huskies (17-9-0), meanwhile, are one of the hottest teams in the AUS, sporting a 9-2-0 record in the previous 11 games. 

What hurts more is that the Panthers carried a 2-0 lead into the second period. That's where it unravelled, as the Huskies responded with five unanswered goals, leaving the Panthers and their fans stunned.

The Huskies featured a balanced attack with four skaters recording a goal and an assist, including Nathan Dunkley, Keith Getson, Jaxon Bellamy and Justin MacPherson. Sam King added an empty-netter to seal the win. Offence aside, it was netminder Jeremy Helvig who stole the spotlight as the freshman stopped 41 shots. By comparison, UPEI's Jonah Capriotti was credited with 18 saves on 22 shots. 

"We started out a little shaky, but we came into the second, got a big goal to start off and kept rolling from there," said Helvig after his stellar performance.

While Helvig was the unquestioned star on the night, it didn't look like that would be the case in the first period, where the Panthers got to him just 6:42 into the frame. On the scoring play, Drake Pilon tried to centre a pass from behind the net, but instead of reaching a teammate, the puck hit the back of Helvig's stick and bounced in the net for the lucky goal.

UPEI added to their lead at 11:25 when TJ Shea—fresh off a FISU gold medal win—went up the left side and got his defender to bite on a fake before sending a short backhand pass to MacEachern, who tipped it over Helvig's glove for the goal. 

The Panthers were riding all the momentum, but the Huskies still had plenty to say in this game. Saint Mary's cut the lead in half just 1:11 into the second period on a weird power play goal. MacPherson's shot from the blue line hit a stick in front and popped on top of the net, where Dunkley took a couple hacks at the puck before it ended up in the back of the net.

The Huskies benefitted from another fortunate bounce at 2:54 when Dennis Busby, deep in his own zone, lifted a pass that ricocheted off the end boards on the opposite end of the ice to Getson, who beat Capriotti trying to play the puck. 

Saint Mary's then pulled in front less than five minutes later when Getson gathered the puck on the faceoff a draw and delivered a cross-ice pass to Bellamy who beat Capriotti five-hole with the one-timer.

The Huskies added their third power play marker less than two minutes into the third period when MacPherson took a couple strides inside the blue line and fired a wrist shot by Capriotti to make 4-2. 

The Panthers did everything they could to get back in the game, but Helvig stood on his head all night and put together one of his best performances of his young career, as he carried his team to the 5-2 win. 

"That first goal was a bad bounce, but I kept my head in the game and the boys came back in the end," Helvig said. 

The Panthers look to get back in the win column Saturday night when they welcome the Acadia Axemen, while the Huskies travel to Moncton to take on the Aigles Bleus next Friday.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan