Panthers blank X-Men 5-0

Kameron Kielly found himself right at home Saturday night at the Eastlink Centre.

The Charlottetown native had two goals, including one short-handed, and an assist to help propel the UPEI Panthers to a 5-0 win over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men to close out the Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey regular season. Kielly, a rookie with the Panthers, called the Eastlink Centre home for four seasons as a member of the Charlottetown Islanders.

The Panthers played downtown as part of the Hockey Day in P.E.I. event.

The Panthers won five of their last six games, including wins over U Sports-ranked teams UNB, St. Francis Xavier and Acadia.

Matthew Mancina stopped all 23 shots he faced for the shutout while Brandon Hope made 27 saves in the loss. It was the Panthers first shutout of the season. Marcus Power and Cody Payne each had a goal and an assist while Darcy Ashley also scored. R.T. Rice, Sam Aulie, Beni Berisha, Gabe Guertler, Tanner McCabe and Ryan MacKinnon added assists.

Kielly finished the season with 42 points (13 goals and 29 assists) in 30 games, second in the conference behind Stephen Harper, who had 46 points in 30 games.

UPEI held 1-0 and 3-0 period leads. The fifth-place Panthers (11-18-1) start the playoffs on the road in Halifax on Wednesday against the third-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies (18-10-2). Game 2 is at MacLauchlan Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.