The Atlantic university hockey quarter-final between Moncton and St. Francis Xavier would be considered a mismatch if it was solely based on regular-season records.

But looks can be deceiving. Picking a favourite for this best-of-three series, which begins tonight in Moncton, is a toss-up.

The Aigles Bleus finished the AUHC regular season in third place with an 18-9-1 record. The X-Men ended in sixth at 10-14-4. But in four head-to-head meetings between the two clubs, three were decided by one goal — including two in overtime — and the other was a 4-2 Moncton win in which the final goal was scored into an empty net.

"We’ve had some real tough battles this year: four games decided by one goal and two that went into overtime. That speaks to the competitiveness of the series," St. F.X. head coach Brad Peddle said. "They (Moncton) are a really good hockey team and had an outstanding regular season. We will have to be at our best to beat them."

The X-Men enter the playoffs having won three in a row and four of their last five. Moncton, on the other hand, won only two of its final six regular-season games.

But the Aigles Bleus boast two of the league’s top scorers in veteran Dean Ouellet and sophomore Eric Faille and one of the conference’s best goaltenders in Pierre-Alexander Marion.

"Moncton is a high-flying team that have some key guys up front that we will have to pay close attention to," Peddle said. "At the same time, we need to keep the puck moving and try to play in their end and create our opportunities from there.

"At this time of year, it’s your defensive system that will win or lose games for you. We have to be real tight defensively and we know that from our previous playoff experiences."

St. F.X. has had some memorable playoff runs in the last two years. In 2010, the X-Men pulled off a stunning upset by sweeping the CIS No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds in the conference semifinals. Last year, X lost the league championship to UNB in overtime but still advanced to the CIS tournament. The X-Men fell a goal short of playing in the gold medal game.

Based on their past post-seasons, expectations were high in Antigonish this season. But the X-Men struggled to post wins — they lost 11 one-goal games — and only clinched a playoff berth on the second-to-last day of the regular season.

But Peddle and his charges know that playoffs are a different animal.

"We’ve had a lot of tough one-goal games this year that we didn’t find a way to win," Peddle said. "But I thought the last three or four weeks we were doing a lot of good things.

"We have a lot of guys who have real significant playoff experience. They know what it takes to win in the playoffs and we will rely on that experience. Winning in the playoffs is about staying composed because there are lots of ups and downs. You need to be resilient, you need to stay focused."

Game 2 of the series is Saturday night in Antigonish. If necessary, the rubber match would be played Monday in Moncton.