Campagna snipes winner
UPEI wins final regular season home game, will play SMU in first round of playoffs
On a night of missed chances, J.C. Campagna cashed in when it mattered most.
The UPEI Panthers leftwinger cut to the middle and fired a low shot to beat Moncton Aigles Bleus goalie Brandon Thibeau Friday for the gamewinning goal three minutes into overtime. The Panthers won their final regular season home game 4-3 at MacLauchlan Arena.
“That one definitely felt good,” Campagna said. “I’ve been kind of carrying a monkey on my back, offensively, for a while now, so that was a good time to get a goal.” Moments earlier, Campagna had hit the post as the Panthers buzzed around the Moncton zone during the three-on-three extra period.
“That’s the way the bounces have been going, so it’s good finally that one went in,” Campagna said. Up and down the lineup the Panthers had chances to add to the score sheet on Friday night. Each time the shot would just miss the target, the puck would roll off a stick or Thibeau would stone the shooter. “Mentally, you have to be ready for those nights — that’s it’s not always going to go your way,” head coach Forbes MacPherson said. “Moncton is very, very dangerous team,” he added. “Whoever gets them in the first round of the playoffs, that’s a scary matchup.”
The Panthers clinched fifth place with the win and will meet the Saint Mary’s Huskies in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 of the best-of-three series will go Wednesday in Halifax with Game 2 back in Charlottetown on Friday. Moncton and St. FX will meet in the other first-round series while Acadia and UNB have the byes.
Panthers rookie Gabe Guertler was in on all four goals Friday, scoring twice and setting up Cody Payne for a powerplay marker in regulation. Beau McCue had two assists while Riley Whittingham, Chad Labelle and Nelson Armstrong each added one.
Robbie Graham had two goals and an assist to pace Moncton while Marc-Anthony Therrien had a goal and a helper. Samuel LeBlanc had two assists while Carl Marois and Victor Beaulac each added one.
Matt Mahalak made 20 saves for the win while Thibeau stopped 35 shots in the loss. Moncton was 1-for-7 on the power play and UPEI 1-for-6. Panthers right-winger Darcy Ashley was sick and unable to play. Left-winger Kurt Etchegary wasn’t feeling good and left in the first period. The Panthers close out the regular season on the road tonight in Fredericton, N.B., against the top-rated UNB Varsity Reds. MacPherson acknowledged some guys who are fighting illness or are banged up might not play, but said the team wanted to try some things in preparation for the Huskies series. Before the game the Panthers recognized its senior players, including Derek Ryckman, Casey Babineau, Craig MacLauchlan, Armstrong and Brock Beukeboom.