(MONCTON, N.B.) - The Alex and Allain Saulnier and Danny Chiasson trio accounted for five goals to lead the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (7-8-2) to a 6-3 win over the St. Thomas Tommies (1-13-3) in an AUS men's hockey game, Friday evening in front of 600 spectators, at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena.
The Aigles were leading 4-0 for the first 30 minutes and led 3-0 in the first period. Allain Saulnier scored twice in 15 seconds in the 10th minute of play of the first period. Steve Lebel made it 3-0 22 seconds later, giving Moncton three goals in 37 seconds and hope for the spectators.
Subway player of the game Alex Saulnier (from Samuel Groulx and Allain Saulnier) got the fourth goal midway through the second.
Zach Hall, with one and J.C. Campagna, with two, reduced the lead to 4-3 in the beginning of the third.
Alex Saulnier (from Danny Chiasson and Allain Saulnier), with his second of the game, got the fans off their seats in the 13th minute of play of the third to increase his team's lead to 5-3.
Danny Chiasson (unassisted) scored the sixth, in an empty net with 14 seconds left to play.
Moncton goaltender Brandon Thibeau, was busy with 48 shots while Tommies Philippe Trudeau had 28.
"We did not play well in the first five minutes of the game, but we did get the tempo after that," said Moncton coach Serge Bourgeois. "The Tommies added a few good players, but we did win. It was not the prettiest win, but we got two points. We took a few bad penalties because of our indiscipline and Thibeau was there for us with many saves. A large number of their shots came from far and Thibeau was able to handle them. We had four goals on our first seven quality shots. Defensively, we have work to do. We also need to be more consistent. The Saulnier line played well tonight."
"I am happy with my two goals and two assists," said Alex Saulnier. "The puck was bouncing for us tonight. We had not played for over a month and it showed. Danny Chiasson played well with us this evening. The Holiday break provided energy for the second semester. We need all the points we can get to qualify for the playoffs. We still have a number of things to improve. There were too many turnarounds and our passes need to get better. Our small passing and our indiscipline did not help tonight."
An official face-off marking the 50th anniversary of the Aigles Bleus playing in the Atlantic University Sport conference was held prior to the game. UdeM president Raymond Théberge and former player, Guy Laviolette, were present with a number of players from the 1964-65 team for the occasion.
Moncton will now host the UNB Varsity Reds (13-2-2) Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena. St. Thomas will host the UPEI Panthers Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Source: Moncton Sports Information