Panthers drop tough, penalty-filled battle to X-Men 5-2

By Reegan MacAulay

After a dramatic and resilient home-ice win the previous night, the UPEI Panthers (7-13-0-1) were unsuccessful in keeping the momentum going in front of their fans on Saturday, falling 5-2 to the second-place St. Francis Xavier University X-Men (13-7-1-1) at the MacLauchlan Arena.

In a match filled with penalties from each side, most occurring in the third period and most against UPEI, the Panthers had a strong showing early in the game in terms of puck possession and offensive opportunities, tying the score 1-1 late in the first period and taking a 2-1 lead early in period two; unfortunately, three goals within six minutes and an early goal in the third period sealed the deal for the X-Men's second consecutive win against UPEI this season and their second against them at the Mac.

Saturday's game was the squad's toughest yet since the stretch without top players Kaleb Pearson, Kurtis Henry, and head coach Forbes MacPherson began. Veteran defenseman Alex De Gagne has also been out of the lineup for every second-half game up to this point. Sophomore forward Landon Clow entered the lineup for the first time since Nov. 30, 2024, and was solid despite limited ice time.

Things were relatively even-matched to start the game, with both teams trading goals within the first 13 minutes. Logan Chisholm scored the first of StFX's three power-play goals at 6:04 and Cole Larkin tied the game at 13:47, recording his second goal of the weekend and his third goal in the last three games. At 5:47 in the second period, Josh Currie was sprung on a breakaway and he fooled X-Men goaltender Patrick Leaver with a backhand-forehand deke, giving UPEI a 2-1 lead.

Unfortunately, over a minute later, Alex Christopoulos tied the game for StFX and added another goal on the power-play at 11:09. Ben Mercer rubbed salt on UPEI's wound with a goal one minute and a half later to make it a 4-2 X-Men lead. Jacob Maillet scored StFX's fifth and final goal on the man-advantage at 3:33 in the third period. The third period alone saw 44 penalty minutes. Making matters worse for the Panthers, veteran defenseman Logan Kelly-Murphy left the game with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot.

UPEI went 0-for-2 on the power-play while StFX went 3-for-13. Jakob Robillard, who made his 10th start of the season, stopped 25 of 30 shots and dropped to a 4-5 record, while Leaver denied 27 of 29 shots and improved his record to 7-4.

The Panthers dropped to 7-13-0-1 and remain sixth in the conference, seven points behind Acadia, who lost 6-0 to Moncton on Saturday. The X-Men improved to 13-7-1-1, extending their winning streak to three games and breaking the second-place tie, now up by two points over SMU and Moncton.

With three chaotic games to start the second half of the regular season out of the way, UPEI looks forward to the potential return of their two top players and head coach next weekend. They will welcome the SMU Huskies back to P.E.I. for the third time this season and the second at the MacLauchlan Arena on Friday, Jan. 24, and then head to Wolfville, N.S. on Saturday, Jan. 25 to challenge the Acadia University Axemen.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek