Brennen Wray netted a shorthanded winner while on a breakaway 1:48 into overtime to give the StFX X-Men an important 4-3 victory over the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus Friday night in New Brunswick. The X-Men continue to battle for the final AUS playoff spot. Reigning CIS Rookie of the Year Jason Bast scored each of the X-Men’s other three goals for a hat trick on the night.
With the win, the X-Men improve to 7-13-4 with 18 points as they sit in sixth place in the AUS conference, three points ahead of Dalhousie who fell 5-2 to the UPEI Panthers last night. Both teams have four games remaining on the regular season schedule.
Friday night’s game in Moncton proved to be a close affair as the two teams traded one-goal leads throughout the game. Bast opened the scoring early on with a first period goal just 3:21 into the game. Michael Kirkpatrick and Bryce Swan assisted on the play. The 1-0 lead held until 10:10 when Aigles Bleus Charles Bergeron got the home team on the board with Moncton’s first goal, assisted by Mathieu Labrie and Alex Quesnel. The 1-1 score held heading into the first intermission as shots were 9-8 in favor of the X-Men.
The Aigles Bleus took their first lead in the game at the 10:04 mark of the second period as Eric Faille scored off a Kevin Charland assist. The lead did not hold long, however, as Bast scored his second of the game for StFX, while shorthanded at 13:47. Josh Day and Kirkpatrick picked up the helpers. Moncton held the edge in second period shots at 14-11 as the 2-2 deadlock held after 40 minutes of play.
The two teams continued to battle throughout the first period and Bast kept on his scoring streak, notching his third of the game for the natural hat trick at 13:40 of the third frame. This one came on the power play from Kirkpatrick and Spencer McAvoy. Kirkpatrick was in on all three X-Men goals, picking up three assists in the game. Not to be out down, the Aigles Bleus made a game of it with the tying goal at 16:27 coming off the stick of Francis Rochon. Maxime Pilon and Labrie assisted. The Aigles Bleus continued to pressure StFX goaltender Joey Perricone in the final minutes of the game, but Perricone made some key saves to keep his X-Men in the game and hold on for the 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.
The overtime opened with an exchange of scoring chances for each team, before Josh Day was called for a hooking penalty for StFX. The Aigles Bleus barely got a chance to set up on the man advantage, however, as X-Men forward Brennen Wray picked up a Derek Claffey pass to go in alone and beat Aigles Bleus netminder Michel-Andre Guay on the breakaway for the overtime game winner at 1:48.
The win was a big one for the X-Men heading into the home stretch as they are fighting for the final AUS playoff position with the Dalhousie Tigers, who now sit three points back of StFX.
Joey Perricone earned the win in nets for StFX, turning aside 29 Aigles Bleus shots. Moncton outshot the X-Men 32-29 in the game. Guay took the loss for Moncton, posting 25 saves in the game.
StFX (7-13-4) now heads to Fredericton for a Saturday night game against the eighth place St. Thomas Tommies (4-16-4). The Tommies have had the X-Men’s number this season as they own a 3-0 record against StFX, including a 2-1 shootout victory last weekend in Antigonish.
Moncton (16-7-1) will host the Saint Mary’s Huskies (16-7-2) Saturday evening. They are in third place only one point back of the second place Huskies. A mere four points separates first through fifth place in the AUS men’s hockey conference standings.