Aigles Bleus come back to defeat Huskies 6-5 in Moncton

MONCTON, NB - The Moncton Aigles Bleus scored three unanswered third period goals to come from behind and defeat the Saint Mary's Huskies 6-5 on Friday night at J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena in Moncton, N.B.

The two teams traded goals in the first period, with the Huskies striking first, as defenceman Ben Roger (Markham, ON) stole the puck in the Aigles Bleus zone and deked to the backhand, sliding the puck past Aigles Bleus goaltender Olivier Adam (Drummondville, QC) for a powerplay goal to put the Huskies up 1-0, less than two minutes into the period.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Ben Roger scores a powerplay beauty to give @SMUMensHockey an early 1-0 lead!

��B. Roger (3) pic.twitter.com/oBE3fiR0jw

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 17, 2023

The Aigles Bleus responded just a minute later, as forward William Basque (Tracadie, NB) scored to tie the game at 1-1.

Midway through the period, the Huskies would restore the lead as forward Reid Valade (Caledon, ON), made a nice move around the defender and fed linemate Ben Allison (Halifax, NS) for a highlight reel worthy goal.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Reid Valade with a great feed to Ben Allison to restore the @SMUMensHockey lead, 2-1 midway through the first period!

��B. Allison (5)
��R. Valade
��D. Busby pic.twitter.com/FNFcGsS9nt

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 17, 2023

Once again, Moncton would equalize, with defenceman Jacob Dion (Sherbrooke, QC) scoring to tie it at 2-2 with just under five minutes remaining. But the Huskies would restore their lead just 21 seconds later, as Valade stole the puck, dished to Allison, who ran a perfect give-and-go with linemate Declan McDonnell (Buffalo, NY) for Allison's second goal of the night and sixth of the campaign.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Back-to-back goals by Ben Allison as he runs the give-and-go with Declan McDonnell and @SMUMensHockey restore their lead 3-2 in the first period!

��B. Allison (6)
��D. McDonnell
��R. Valade pic.twitter.com/bvXzvYfbEl

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 17, 2023

The action packed first period saw the Huskies outshoot the Aigles Bleus 13-11, and take a 3-2 lead into intermission.

Moncton forward Jeremy Lapointe would tie the game again midway through the second period, with a shorthanded goal. But the Huskies would restore their lead once again, as first year forward Jake Uberti (Toronto, ON) received a pass from defenceman Connor Olson (London, ON) and skated in on goal, beating Adam glove side for his fourth marker of the season.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS��

Jake Uberti takes a pass from Connor Olson, turns on the jets and snipes a goal to give the Huskies back the lead, 4-3 in the second period @SMUMensHockey

��J. Uberti (4)
��C. Olson pic.twitter.com/ttTKt8AozU

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 18, 2023

The Aigles Bleus outshot the Huskies 12-9 in the second period, but Saint Mary's would hold on to a 4-3 lead heading into second intermission.

Less than two minutes into the third period, the Huskies first year line added to their lead as McDonnell scored with assists from Allison and Valade, putting the visitors ahead 5-3.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

The Huskies first years are lighting it up tonight! Declan McDonnell scores to extend the @SMUMensHockey lead to 5-3 early in the third period!

��D. McDonnell (5)
��B. Allison
��R. Valade pic.twitter.com/GsAMZO6fAR

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 18, 2023

Unfortunately the rest of the night would belong to the home team, as the Aigles Bleus scored three unanswered goals over a seven minute span to take the victory.

Player of the Game Jérémy Michel scored three points (two goals, one assist) for the Aigles Bleus, including the game-winning goal. Jacob Dion (one goal, two assists) and Jeremy Lapoine (two goals) also scored multipoint nights for the Aigles Bleus.

 Ben Allison led the Huskies with two goals and an assist, while fellow first years Reid Valade (three assists) and Declan McDonnell (one goal, one assist) also recorded multipoint nights.

Olivier Adam stopped 26 shots in the win, while Huskies netminder Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS), denied 28 shots in defeat.

The Aigles Bleus win improves their record to 7-4-2-0 on the season. They will continue their home stand tomorrow as they host the Acadia Axemen (3-8-0-2).

The Huskies loss drops their record to 6-7-0-0 on the campaign. Saint Mary's will continue their New Brunswick road trip on Saturday, Nov. 18 as they visit the U SPORTS #1 ranked UNB REDS (13-0-0) in Fredericton.

Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics