Panthers’ valiant effort falls short against Aigles Bleus 3-1

By Reegan MacAulay

The UPEI Panthers men's hockey team (6-12-0-1) remain winless against the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (11-6-2-0) after a 3-1 loss in their return to Atlantic University Sport (AUS) regular season action at the MacLauchlan Arena on Wednesday.

Despite a courageous effort inspired by the absences of head coach Forbes MacPherson and veteran players Kaleb Pearson and Kurtis Henry, along with one of Jakob Robillard's best performances between the pipes this season, the Panthers couldn't find the puck luck they needed to put forward a comeback rally for the ages.

It didn't take long for Moncton to get on the board thanks to a slow start by UPEI, as Nathael Roy collected a feed from Olivier-Luc Hache in front of the Panthers net and tapped home his fourth goal of the season at 2:13, extending his goal streak to three games.

Things remained quiet for the rest of the first period, but early in the second frame, the Panthers started to show better physical play and came out of the gates flying with energy. At 5:23, a dump-out attempt by the Aigles Bleus deflected off the boards and to Cole Larkin beside the UPEI bench, and he fired a shot from the point that snuck through traffic and over goaltender Olivier Adam's shoulders, recording his first goal of the season to tie the game 1-1.

Although the Panthers had a lesser shot count in the second period, they had a much more noticeable presence and had many keen chances, but rang the post multiple times and Adam stood tall with eight saves. Robillard also made some spectacular saves on the other side. Unfortunately, the beginning of the third period was a disaster for UPEI; Logan Kelly-Murphy attempted to pass the puck to Marc Richard from behind his net, but, Jeremy Michel found himself in the right place at the right time, creating an easy turnover within the right-wing faceoff circle and firing a shot past Robillard to give Moncton a 2-1 lead at 4:00.

Things got chaotic from there, particularly for Robillard, as he was penalized for interference in a wild sequence of events after charging out of his net to steal the puck from an opposing player, and, later, was run into by Remy Anglehart. The worst was yet to come as Moncton ultimately sealed the deal at 19:14, with a neutral zone turnover leading to a cross-ice feed and a breakaway for Hache, who sniped a far-side, top-corner shot past Robillard's blocker to extend his team's lead to 3-1.

The final shots were 35-25 in favour of the Aigles Bleus. Robillard stopped a stellar 32 of 35 shots for UPEI, while Adam denied 24 of 25 shots for Moncton. The final shots were 35-25 in favour of Moncton, who went 0-for-2 on the man-advantage. UPEI went 0-for-3. Larkin was named the Player of the Game, recording one goal, two shots, and a -2 plus/minus rating.

The Aigles Bleus improved to 11-6-2-0 and extended their winning streak to two games; they are now two points ahead of Saint Mary's for second in the standings. The Panthers dropped to 6-12-0-1 and failed to form a winning streak after a win against Dalhousie in November; they remain in sixth place and six points back of Acadia.

UPEI will head to Fredericton, N.B. on Friday, Jan. 10 to take on the league-leading UNB Reds for the third time this season. They seek their first win against the powerhouse squad after losing 3-1, 11-1, and 2-0 in the first half. Moncton also has UNB in their sights next and will challenge them on home ice on Saturday, Jan. 11, looking for their third consecutive win and their first against UNB.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek