Panthers drop final home game to Aigles Bleus 5-1

By Reegan MacAulay

In the fifth and final game between the UPEI Panthers (12-13-1-3) and the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus (16-11-3-0), UPEI was finally denied by Moncton after winning the last four games against them, dropping their final home game of the regular season 5-1 at the MacLauchlan Arena on Friday, Feb. 9.

Despite the loss, Panthers head coach Forbes MacPherson liked the young squad's performance.

"We played hard with high energy. We had a lot of puck possession and offensive zone time, but we weren't generating pucks to the net and creating opportunities for more chances. (Moncton) scoring three quick straight goals and special teams ended up being the difference in the game," MacPherson said.

Fifth-year goaltender Jonah Capriotti and fourth-year USPORT defenseman David D'Agostino played their final career regular season home games in front of a packed crowd. Both were honoured as graduating players in a pre-game ceremony. Capriotti denied 19 of 23 shots. D'Agostino recorded one assist, one shot, one faceoff win, and a +1. 

Capriotti said he's enjoyed every bit of his experiences this season.

"It's going to be tough when it all comes to an end. I was getting teary-eyed (before the game) thinking about it when (coach) Forbie mentioned how our paths kind of met before coming here.

"Just going over everything in my head, it's been a great time, and I wouldn't change anything about it. It's been the best thing for my career so far as it's given me a bunch of friends and it's helped my family find a new spot that's been home for us. I can't say enough of the program, and Forbie especially," Capriotti said. 

D'Agostino said it was nice to be recognized despite only playing one year at UPEI, a year when he's only played nine games since he dealt with a long-term injury for most of it.

"I've had my moments here. I appreciate the coaches and everything they've said about me and how they feel about me. The ceremony was nice," D'Agostino said.

MacPherson said both players shared a similar path coming into the program. 

"Both originally reached out to us for opportunities to come to UPEI. Cappy's a great story; when we recruited him, we told him he'd be our third goalie. When he came to camp that year, he started driving the bus right from day one. 

"D'Ag came to us as an unknown. He was a USPORT player in another school and so he obviously wasn't really on our radar, but he had interest in our Master's program. (Him and Capriotti) are two strong character, culture, mature guys, and they do really well in school. For a young team, they've been critical this year for the growth of the program," MacPherson said. 

The Panthers started the game strong and scored the first goal at 8:10 thanks to rookie forward Elias Cohen, which was assisted by D'Agostino and rookie forward Michael Stubbs. But after the Aigles Bleus scored a power-play goal later in the period, Moncton took control of the game from there on out, scoring three goals in under four minutes in the second period and capping the game with an empty-net goal in the third period.

Moncton's goals were scored by Maxime Boudreau (2), Olivier-Luc Hache, Jeremy Lapointe, and Samuel Guilbault.

The final shots were 25-25 in favour of Moncton. Capriotti denied 19 of 23 shots for UPEI and Olivier Adam denied 23 of 24 shots for Moncton. The Panthers went 0-for-5 on the power play while the Aigles Bleus went 2-for-5.

UPEI will conclude its season with a road trip to Fredericton, N.B. on Saturday, Feb. 10 to play the University of New Brunswick Reds (29-0-0-0). UNB will have its eyes on a perfect 30-win regular season, something that's never been accomplished by anyone in AUS men's hockey history.

The Panthers are 0-4 against the Reds this season, and head into the game fifth in the standings, one point behind the Saint Mary's Huskies (14-14-1-0). If, by some miracle, UPEI defeats UNB and SMU loses its next game to the Dalhousie Tigers (7-20-2-0), which is on the same night as the UPEI game, the Panthers will earn home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

With the odds completely against them, MacPherson said the team will go and prepare like any other game.

"We want to make sure we're feeling good about ourselves heading into the playoffs, so we'll put together a game plan. Maybe we can be the team (to deny UNB's record), who knows," MacPherson said.

Saturday's game time is at 7 p.m. Catch the action live online at aus.tv and follow the men's hockey Instagram and X accounts for live updates.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek