Panthers open season with a bang
UPEI rookie Tyler Brown makes good first impression with two goals and an assist
The UPEI Panthers opened their Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey season with a bang Friday night, downing arch- rival Moncton Blue Eagles 4- 3 in a frenetic, high- energy match at MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown.
The Panthers proved the CIS ranking committee wrong, fending off a six- on-four power play for the eighth- ranked Blue Eagles in the game’s dying minutes to seal the win.
The Panthers will now face the St. Thomas Tommies tonight at MacLauchlan Arena. Game time is 7 p. m. Much of Friday’s match belonged to UPEI rookie forward Tyler Brown, who was named player of the game with two goals and an assist.
The former Kingston Frontenacs captain wasted no time getting down to business, scoring exactly a minute into the game with a tip- in goal assisted by UPEI captain Dylan Quaile.
“It felt great. We started off and the whole team was fired up,” said Brown during an interview with The Guardian.
“We had a good forecheck going and the guys were all putting in hard work.”
The home opener was one of the most anticipated in recent Panthers’ history, with a large and boisterous crowd packing the arena.
Brown was quick to note the role that the energetic crowd played in the Panthers’ win.
“It definitely helps the guys,” he said. “We worked off the energy.”
Other Panther goals were scored by Reggie Traccitto and Mason Wilgosh.
Alex Noel, Pier- Antonie Dion and Remi Blanchard replied for Moncton.
UPEI kept the momentum from Brown’s early goal with Traccitto netting a slapshot from the blue- line during a power play at 4: 23.
Shortly after, the Panthers entered penalty- kill mode when first- year forward Jordan Mayer was given a game misconduct in what was ruled a hit to the head.
The five- minute power play saw UPEI netminder Mavric Parks, who got the nod to start the Panthers season, face his first shot of the game.
While the Panthers managed to stave off the power play attempts, a top- shelf shot from Noel at 10: 11 put Moncton on the board.
Brown struck again at 13: 19 with an assist from alternate captain Matt Maione to widen the scoring gap. But it didn’t take long for Dion to take advantage of some high traffic in front of Parks to slip one past the netminder’s pads at 14: 15.
However, Wilgosh answered back, with what would prove to be the gamewinner, less than a minute later, as the Panthers ended the period with a 4- 2 lead.
While Blanchard netted a long shot on the power play at 5: 52 in the third period to narrow the score to 43, Parks kept the team in the game during the final minutes when a Moncton power play was further bolstered by pulling goaltender Adrien Lemay.
Lemay stopped all 18 of UPEI’s shots he faced, after replacing Andre- Michel Guay, who let in four of the Panthers’ seven first- period shots.
Parks stopped 20 of the Blue Eagles’ 23 shots, and described the win as a big deal for the Panthers in the highly competitive AUS conference.
“Starting off the season on the right foot is crucial for when it gets to playoff time, where those two points matter,” Parks said during an interview with The Guardian.
“It’s a short season. So it’s good to get these two points.
“It will be even more important to get another two points ( today).”