Panthers defeat Huskies 8-4 in Charlottetown

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - The UPEI Panthers defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 8-4 on Friday night at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, powered by a hat-trick from first year forward Ryan Stepien.

Matt Brassard assisted on four of those goals, while Kaleb Pearson finished with a goal and two assists for a Panthers (10-4-0) squad that has won five straight games and nine of their last 10.

Joel Bishop and Keith Getson each had two points for the Huskies (7-6-0) in the loss. 

Stepien got the scoring started just 2:34 into the first period when the freshman took the loose puck in the offensive zone and skated around a defender before firing a wrist shot past goaltender Matt Welsh. 

A little over five minutes later, RT Rice made a great defensive play in the defensive zone that allowed Kaleb Pearson to secure the puck and lead a two-on-one rush where he ultimately kept it and sniped a shot in the top right corner to make it 2-0.

A fortunate bounce benefitted the Huskies at 10:01 when Bishop skated around the net and centred a pass in front that hit a Panther skate and into the net, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Joel Bishop scores his second of the season to cut the Panthers lead to 2-1 in the first period. @SMUMensHockey

��J. Bishop (2)
��K. Getson pic.twitter.com/ovlcCQNKr7

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 18, 2022

But the Panthers responded a little over a minute later as Pearson stole the puck in the neutral zone and found Jordan Maher crashing to the net, where he redirected it past Welsh by the far-side post.

At that point, it looked like UPEI was ready to run away with the game, but the Huskies still had a lot to say in this one, as they stunned the home crowd with back-to-back goals late in the period. 

First, it was defenceman Walter Flower III who took a loose puck off the side boards and fired a slap shot off the crossbar and in at 18:35.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Walter Flower III scores from a tough angle to cut the Panthers lead to 3-2 in the first period. @SMUMensHockey

��W. Flower III (1)
��C. Olson
��S. King pic.twitter.com/PyNQ00RnWR

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 18, 2022

Then, with two seconds left in the period, Andrew Coxhead put away the rebound off a Sam Dunn shot that netminder Jonah Capriotti couldn't contain.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Andrew Coxhead scores with just two seconds remaining in the first period to tie it up 3-3! @SMUMensHockey

��A. Coxhead (7)
��S. Dunn
��B. Johnson pic.twitter.com/8dVgcQ8gQy

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 18, 2022

After a furious first period, the second frame was more of a defensive battle. Still, the red-hot Panthers managed to get one by Welsh. This time it was defenceman Kurtis Henry who pulled his ahead at 6:13 when he took a pass from Carson MacKinnon—who was surrounded by three Huskies—and wired home a wrist shot.

Looking to end any hope of a comeback, twins Drake and Darian Pilon connected on UPEI's fifth goal of the night about three minutes into the third. Darian stripped the puck from a Saint Mary's defender and dropped a pass to Drake, who beat Welsh glove side with the smooth wrist shot.

Jonathan Hampton got the Huskies within a goal one last time before the Panthers erupted for three unanswered to put the game away.

With plenty of activity around the net, Troy Lajeunesse saw the puck slide along the side of the net, where the veteran forward fired a laser by the goalie for the power play marker at 13:14.

Sixteen seconds later, Richard Whittaker stole the puck in the offensive zone and quickly got a pass off to Stepien, who made a couple moves on the goalie before sliding a backhand in the back of the net.

Stepien recorded the hat trick at 17:28 when Welsh couldn't clear the puck behind the net, which allowed Stepien to pick it off and put away the easy goal to close out the 8-4 win.

The Panthers look to make it six straight when they travel to Antigonish to take on the St. FX X-Men next Friday, while the Huskies play host to the Acadia Axemen on Saturday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre. GET TICKETS