MacDonald, Gentile lead Huskies offensive explosion in 8-4 win over Panthers

HALIFAX, NS—Saint Mary's forwards Matthew MacDonald (two goals, three assists) and Derek Gentile (two goals, one assist) combined for eight points as the Huskies defeated the UPEI Panthers 8-4 in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Thursday night at the Dauphinee Centre in Halifax.

The Huskies opened the scoring just over a minute into the first period, as forward Connor Trenholm (Cole Harbour, NS) won the face-off back to defenceman Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, NB) who unleashed a one-timer that beat Panthers goaltender Joe Ranger (Carp, ON), giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead, 1:06 into the first.

The Panthers equalized midway through the period, as defenceman Zach Biggar (Coleman, PEI) played a pass over to forward Josh Currie (Pickering, ON) who fired a shot that was stopped by Huskies netminder Ben West (Barrie, ON), but Biggar jumped on the rebound to tie at 2-2, 8:19 into the first.

Saint Mary's was able to retake the lead several minutes later, as forward Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) came out of the penalty box, picked up a deflection from forward Matthew MacDonald (Halifax, NS) and sped towards the Panthers goal, unleashing a wicked wrist shot that beat Ranger high to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead, 12:17 into the first period.

Both teams nearly added to their tally, if not for some great goalkeeping from both Ranger and West who each stopped breakaways. The Panthers took a 12-10 shots on goal advantage into intermission, but it was the Huskies who led 2-1 on the scoreboard.

UPEI would equalize just over a minute into the second period, as Panthers forwards Ben McFarlane (Ayr, ON) and Brett Bressette (Penetanguishene, ON) skated in on a two-on-one, with McFarlane launching a high wrist shot for his team leading ninth goal of the season, tying the game at 2-2 at the 1:34 mark of the second period.

But Saint Mary's would respond thanks to some spectacular play from Player of the Game Matthew MacDonald, who scored two goals and added an assist in the second period.

MacDonald's first goal came off a great play from linemate Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) who came off the bench to intercept a pass and feed MacDonald, who popped the water bottle with a high wrist shot to restore the Huskies 3-2 lead, 3:22 into the second period.

The Huskies nearly scored another one when Ben Roger (Brighton, ON) made a great defensive play to spark himself and Derek Gentile on a breakaway, but Ranger made a tremendous glove save.

Less than five minutes later, MacDonald struck again, this time with a shorthanded goal, as forward Will Chisholm (Lunenburg, NS) was able to chip the puck ahead to MacDonald who unleashed another lethal wrist shot past Ranger, giving the Huskies a 4-2 lead, 8:11 into the period.

With just over two minutes remaining in the second period, the Huskies scored again, as MacDonald was able to spring forward Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, ON) on a breakaway. Johnson's initial attempt was denied by Ranger, but he was able to gather his own rebound, wrap around the goal and stuff it just past the goal line. After a lengthy discussion, the officials whistled it a goal, Johnson's second of the season, giving the Huskies a 5-2 lead, 17:38 into the period.

The Huskies outshot the Panthers 22-11 in the second period, taking a 32-23 shots on goal advantage into intermission, and led 5-2 after 40 minutes of play.

But the Panthers weren't going away without a fight, as AUS All-Star forward Kaleb Pearson scored a pair of unanswered goals to open the third period. First, Pearson took a pass from defenceman Logan Kelly-Murphy (China Point, PEI) and skated through a crowd, firing a shot over Ben West's glove to cut the lead to 5-3, 2:15 into the third period.

Less than five minutes later, Pearson scored his second goal of the night, taking a pass from forward Patrick LeBlanc (Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, NB) and firing a high shot to cut the Huskies lead to 5-4, 8:39 into the third period.

With just over five minutes remaining in the period, the Huskies would find some breathing room on the powerplay, as defenceman Dennis Busby (Oro-Medonte, ON) played a cross-ice pass to Derek Gentile, who scored his second goal of the night, extending the lead to 6-4 with 5:03 to play.

Looking to cut it back to a one goal deficit, the Panthers pulled their goalie early, and Bradey Johnson added his second goal of the game to extend the lead to 7-4 at the 17:26 mark of the third.

Saint Mary's wasn't done quite yet, as defenceman Luke Vardy (Hammonds Plains, NS) sniped a wrist shot with 45 seconds remaining. Vardy's first goal of his AUS career sealed the Huskies 8-4 victory.

Huskies forward Matthew MacDonald was named Player of the Game, scoring two goals and adding three assists. Derek Gentile (two goals, one assist), Bradey Johnson (two goals) and Reid Valade (two assists) also had multipoint nights for Saint Mary's.

The Huskies outshot the Panthers 47-29 on the night, with Ben West stopping 25 shots for the win, while Ranger turned away 39 shots in defeat.

The Huskies win improves their record to 7-5-1-0 on the campaign, moving them into a tie for second place in the AUS standings. Saint Mary's will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 22, taking on the Dalhousie Tigers (1-11-0-0) at 7 p.m. at the Halifax Forum.

The Panthers loss drops their record to 5-8-0-0 on the season. They'll be back on home ice on Saturday, Nov. 16, taking on the Acadia Axemen (6-6-0-0) at 7 p.m. in Charlottetown, PEI.

RECAP BY: Allan April, SMU Huskies Athletics / PHOTOS BY: Mona Ghiz, Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics