CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - The Acadia Axemen picked up a hard-fought 3-2 win on the road versus the hometown UPEI Panthers, moving one step closer to solidifying a playoff position.
TJ Shea did his part for UPEI, scoring both goals for the Panthers with Kyle Maksimovich delivering two helpers. For the Axemen, Nick Deakin-Poot and Cole Nagy led the charge, as the pair finished with a goal and an assist. Adam McMaster also scored in the win.
For the second straight night, the Panthers once again opened the scoring, this time just 3:48 into the first period on a power play marker from Shea. Maksimovich had the puck in the slot and passed it behind his back to Troy Lajeunesse, who fed it in front to Shea for the redirect.
However, that lead was short-lived as the Axemen (9-14-3) scored less than four minutes later. On the scoring play, Deakin-Poot battled through a couple Panthers before slipping a soft shot by Lucas Fitzpatrick for the tying goal.
Acadia came right back and scored again 53 seconds later when Bailey Peach's harmless shot from the blue line skipped to Fitzpatrick, who gave up a long rebound that McMaster took a couple hacks at before scoring.
The Panthers would even the score at 15:17 when Shea took a pass from Lajeunesse through the neutral zone and beat a defender with a nifty move before tucking a wrist shot in the top right corner.
UPEI appeared to have settled down after scoring the tying goal, but was undone by the Axemen early in the second period, where they took the lead and never relinquished it. At 4:18, Luke Zazula fired a shot in traffic where Cole Nagy slipped the puck by the goalie to make it 3-2.
The Panthers desperately searched for the equalizer for the remainder of the game, as they outshot their opponent 22-10 in the final two periods, but once again a rookie goaltender denied them that opportunity. Zachary Paputsakis recorded 32 saves and earned his first AUS win in his ninth start of the season.
"They (Panthers) are a good team and they battled hard, but we're a hardworking team too, and we know that if we play our best, we can compete with any team in this league," Paputsakis said.
While keeping ahead of the Dalhousie Tigers for the last playoff position, the Axemen also trail Moncton by three points and STFX by four points.
The Panthers travel to Halifax on Wednesday to take on the Dalhousie Tigers. The Axemen will wrap up their two weeks on the road with games against the UNB Reds and Moncton this coming Friday and Saturday.