Aigles Bleus take game one in men's hockey quarterfinals

Moncton, NB – The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus defeated the StFX X-Men 3-1 in game one of their Subway AUS best two-of-three game quarterfinal playoff series.

Alex Saulnier scored two goals for the Aigles Bleus in the victory.

Despite outshooting the home team by a 36-33 margin, the X-Men were unable to score on Moncton netminder Adrien Lemay outside of a Jason Bast first period unassisted goal.

Bast opened the scoring 13:54 into the game, breaking in alone on Lemay to make a nice deke and score.

StFX thought they were taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room for first intermission, but Alex Saulnier scored his first goal of the game with only six seconds left in the opening frame while the Aigles Bleus were on the power play.  Alex Emond and his brother Allain Saunier assisted.

Alex Saulnier netted the game winner 9:49 into the second period, his shot fooling StFX goalie Drew Owsley. Pier-Antoine Dion and Danny Chiasson had the helpers.

Chiasson then scored an insurance marker for Moncton at 16:38, off a blast from the point. Emond picked up his second assist of the evening and Eric Faille was in on the goal as well.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third period although the X-Men outshot the Aigles Bleus 14-5. They thought they had scored their second goal of the game with just under four minutes to play after crashing the Moncton net, but Lemay had the puck covered and held on to keep it out. He tallied 35 saves for the win.

The teams played disciplined hockey with only three minor penalties in the game, all in the first period.

With the victory the Aigles Bleus hold a key 1-0 lead in the short best two-of-three game series. Game two is scheduled for Friday night in Antigonish. Puck drop is 7:00 pm at the Keating Centre.

Game three, if necessary, will be back in Moncton on Sunday night.