Playing country’s best

Panthers get to measure themselves against UNB tonight

The UPEI Panthers get to measure themselves against the top men’s hockey team in the country tonight.

The Gardiner MacDougall-coached UNB Varsity Reds come to town for a 7 p.m. contest at MacLauchlan Arena.

“It’s a good measuring stick,” Panthers head coach Forbes MacPherson said before Tuesday’s practice. “It’s good for guys to continue to evaluate their game.”

Playing one of the top U Sports teams is nothing new for the Panthers.

UPEI has played six games in January, including two games against St. FX and one against Acadia and Saint Mary’s. The Panthers went 2-2-0 against the three teams, who were ranked in the top six when the Panthers played them.

The Panthers will be looking to build on last weekend’s game that saw them defeat Acadia before losing to Saint Mary’s in a game that the Huskies were leading 3-2 with four minutes to play. UPEI also out-chanced the Huskies early with plenty of Grade A scoring chances.

“Guys were feeling confident from the night before. . . ,” he said, but “there’s quality goaltending in this league.”

The Varsity Reds (20-1-3) have long clinched a playoff spot but are only a point up on St. FX for first place in the Atlantic University Sport hockey conference. The Panthers are 6-17-1 and two points up on Dalhousie for fifth in the seventeam conference where all but one team makes the post-season.

UPEI will dress five defencemen for tonight’s game as Bobby Zinkan is out for the regular season with a broken collarbone sustained Friday night.