Antigonish, NS - The StFX X Men won big in their final home game of the regular season, cruising to a 5-1 victory over the visiting UPEI Panthers in a penalty-filled affair at the Charles V. Keating Centre. The U SPORTS no. 4 ranked X-Men scored twice on the powerplay and added in a shorthanded marker for good measure.

It didn't take long for the potent X offence to get going with Connor Bruggen-Cate (Langley, BC) lighting the lamp with 3:33 gone in the first period. After gaining the Panther's zone, Sam Allison (Cole Harbour, NS) put a pass from the corner to the stick of Bruggen-Cate, who wired a slap shot over the glove hand of Panthers netminder Cedrick Andree (Ottawa, ON).

X got on the board again just under 10 minutes later. Picking up the puck deep in his own end, Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) gained the neutral zone before splitting the UPEI defense for a strong chance on goal. Andree made the first stop but Liam Hawel (Arnprior, NS) potted the rebound. Brendan Clavelle (Kapuskasing, ON) had the second assist.

Shots at the end of the first were 13-9 in favour of StFX.

Both teams got a little testy in the penalty filled second period, with each squad making repeated trips to the sin bin.

UPEI cut the STFX lead in half at the 11:59 marker. Panthers defense Matt Brassard (Barrie, ON) took a pass in the slot and put one through the wickets of X goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) for a powerplay goal. Kyle Maskimovich (Oakville, ON) assisted.

STFX returned the favour with 20 seconds left in the period with Struthers scoring while X was on a two-man advantage. X-Men captain Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) passed the puck from the point to Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON), who found an open Struthers, who fired home a wrister for the goal.

Shots at the end of the second were 28-21 in favour of the X-Men as they led 3-1 on the scoreboard.

The third period was another busy period for the officials, with both teams playing shorthanded throughout. 

Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) made the most of a shorthanded breakaway at 4:44, taking a pass from Ethan Crossman (Sackville, NB) and deking the UPEI goalie to give STFX a 4-1 lead. William Bower (Saint John, NB) had the second assist.

STFX scored again on the powerplay at 7:49. Matthew Phillip (Ilderton, ON) took a pass from Centorame and gained the UPEI zone before passing off to Hawel, who picked up his own rebound before knocking in his second of the night.

Shots at the end of the game were 38 to 30 in favour of the X-Men. Raaymakers made 29 saves for his 13th win of the season while Andree made 33.

Raaymakers earned third star of the game honors, while X-men defenseman Adam Holwell (St. John's, NL) was second star and Smith was named first star and Subway player of the game.

Following the game, Smith said with it late in the season, the team is looking strong.

"We've got a pretty good squad, we're got two more games left, so we'll keep progressing before playoffs and try and get better every game."

As for how X was able to stay on their game through the chippy last two periods, Smith said it's a part of hockey.

"Sometimes, you've just got to manage that," he said. "It was chippy. There were a lot of calls, both ways. I thought we did a good job on special teams tonight, killed a lot of penalties, and our powerplay got a couple of goals too. It was good special teams all around."

StFX is on the road to New Brunswick next weekend, where they will take on UNB on Friday and Moncton on Saturday. The Panthers are home to Saint Mary's tomorrow night.

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Courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Sports Information

Congrats to Declan Smith, Subway Player of the Game in the X-Men's 5-1 win over UPEI tonight! #goxgo #subwayfuel pic.twitter.com/PHV1x9m7Gr

— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) February 26, 2022