Fighting for fifth
UPEI hosting Moncton tonight in final home game of the AUS men’s regular season
The math is simple for the UPEI Panthers.
With each Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men’s hockey team having two games remaining in the regular season, the Panthers are two points back of the St. FX X-Men for fifth place in the conference. UPEI holds the tiebreaker.
“Essentially, we have to … get two more points than they’re able to capture and we get that fifth spot,” UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson said Tuesday.
The Panthers (10-13-5) can take a big step forward in their quest for fifth with a win tonight when they host the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (12-10-6). Puck drop on seniors’ night is set for 7 p.m. at MacLauchlan Arena.
UPEI will be trying to minimize Moncton’s quick-strike offensive attack.
“We’re going to have to do a good job of slowing them down in the neutral zone,” MacPherson said. “They like to stretch the play and get behind our D.”
Kameron Kielly and Kyle Maksimovich lead the Panthers in points with 41 and 38, respectively, to place them third and fourth in the conference. Maxime St-Cyr leads Moncton with 37 points.
Simon Hofley gets the start tonight in UPEI’s crease. He’s played every game this season for the Panthers.
“He’s played a lot of hockey this year and he’s played well for us,” MacPherson said. “He had a big third period against St. FX (Saturday) night when we had to kill a lot of penalties under duress and we were down on bodies.”
Hofley is 10-18 with a 4.18 goals-against average (GAA) and a .881 save percentage while Moncton’s Etienne Montpetit is 12-16 with a 3.11 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
“We’re going to have to get a lot of pucks to the net and fight for rebounds,” MacPherson said.
The Panthers are banged up, but MacPherson was waiting to hear from the team’s athletic therapist Tuesday afternoon to determine who will be unable to play tonight. Forwards Luke Kirwan and Nick Shumlanksi both left the team for personal reasons earlier this season.
The Panthers have played a lot of close games recently and hope that helps with the playoffs arrive.
They fell behind Acadia 5-1 after the first period on Jan. 24. They battled back to tie it before losing late. UPEI split the next four games, all of which were determined in overtime or a shootout.
“We’ve liked the way we’ve played for those 14-plus periods,” MacPherson said.
The Panthers complete the regular season Friday in Fredericton, N.B., against the UNB Reds (24-4-0). UPEI is looking to continue playing well as it wraps up the regular season.
“It gives your group a real sense of confidence, gives your group a real sense of buy-in,” the bench boss said, noting the adversity the team has withstood this season. “We hope that kind of galvanizes the group and brings everybody closer together.”
CONFERENCE NOTES
• Former Charlottetown Islanders forward Mitchell Balmas sustained a knee injury Friday and will miss at least the next four weeks. The Saint Mary’s Huskies rookie and Sydney, N.S., native leads the conference with 43 points in 27 games.
• UNB and Acadia have already clinched first-round byes. Saint Mary’s (32), Moncton (30), St. FX (27) and UPEI (25) hold the remaining four playoff berths, but the order could change this week.