Panthers rally from early scare, skid past Tigers 6-3

By Reegan MacAulay 

The UPEI Panthers faced an early scare with a two-goal deficit in the first period but rallied to claim a valiant 6-3 win against the Dalhousie Tigers at the MacLauchlan Arena Friday night.

Thanks to a quick turnaround late in the first period and an offensive boost early in the second period, which included back-to-back goals by Patrick LeBlanc, the Panthers (4-7-0) held on to end a three-game losing skid and remain undefeated against the worst team in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS).

The Tigers (1-11-0) couldn't have asked for a better start, beginning with a breakaway goal by Alec Belanger at 3:39, and Evan MacKinnon extending Dalhousie's lead by two at 9:46. Not too long after, UPEI caught a lucky break with a power play, which saw Zach Biggar capitalize on a rebound off an Elias Cohen shot to score his first career AUS goal and pull the Panthers within one at 2-1.

Three minutes later, LeBlanc found himself in the right place at the right time, collecting the puck in mid-air off a Bobby Orr shot, quickly throwing it down, and firing a shot past goaltender Alexander MacDonald to tie the game 2-2. LeBlanc, Orr, and Kaleb Pearson would reconnect for another goal 1:07 into the second period, with LeBlanc finishing a slick tic-tac-toe play to give UPEI a 3-2 lead. Four minutes later, Orr added to his team's score, catching a cross-ice feed from captain Kurtis Henry, driving to the goal on a partial breakaway, and sniping a shot over MacDonald's blocker to make it a 4-2 game.

26 seconds later, Belanger collected his second goal of the game to close the gap back to one at 4-3. That was then followed by Noah Sedore getting a monkey off his back with his first goal of the season in his eighth game, collecting a pass from Cade Kowalski in the high slot and firing a quick shot past MacDonald's glove to give the Panthers a 5-3 advantage at 11:53.

In the closing minutes, Dalhousie did everything they could to keep themselves alive; despite a timeout, power play, and pulled goalie, a bouncing puck in the Panthers zone was grabbed by Keiran Gallant and passed to Ben McFarlane, who sped down the ice and sealed the deal for a 6-3 Panthers win with an empty-net goal.

Jakob Robillard started in goal for UPEI, denying 15 of 18 shots and improving his record to 4-3-0. MacDonald stopped 33 of 38 shots, dropping his record to 1-5-0. Orr was named the Panthers Player of the Game with one goal and two assists while Barrett Kirwin was named the Tigers Player of the Game with 15 of 27 faceoffs won. Pearson recorded three assists, captain Kurtis Henry collected two assists, and Kowalski, Gallant, Cole Larkin, Elias Cohen, and Derek Pys each contributed one assist.

The Panthers improved to 4-7-0, which puts them three points behind the SMU Huskies, who are fifth in the conference. The Tigers dropped to 1-11-0 and had their losing streak extend to eight games, which has them six points behind UPEI and still at the bottom of the standings.

Back on the winning track, UPEI looks to use the momentum and execute a perfect weekend with a trip to Antigonish, N.S. to take on the StFX X-Men on Saturday night. The X-Men are within a two-point bubble for third in the conference, tied with Acadia for third and one point ahead of Saint Mary's. They carry a three-game winning streak going into Saturday, which includes a recent 8-0 rout against Dalhousie. UPEI and StFX have played against each other only once so far, with the Panthers barely winning 5-4 in Antigonish on Oct. 18. Meanwhile, the Tigers will take a week off to prepare for a home game against the league-leading UNB Reds next Friday, Nov. 15.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek