Pridham had a goal and an assist in the Huskies 5-3 win.
The win improved the Huskies’ record to 12-7-1 (won-lost-overtime losses) for 25 points, good for a second-place tie with the Acadia Axemen (12-6-1) in the Atlantic University Sport Men’s Hockey Conference. Fifth-place UPEI fell to 11-7-0, three points back of the Huskies and Axemen and two behind fourth-place Moncton (12-6-0).
Moncton will visit the Panthers at MacLauchlan Arena on the UPEI campus on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Opened scoring
Before 326 fans at the Halifax Forum, former Summerside Western Capital Chad Locke opened the scoring for the Panthers at 14:42 of the first period. The Huskies, who held period leads of 2-1 and 3-1, scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead early in the third period. Jared Gomes scored back-to-back goals at 5:30 and 19:33 to bring the Panthers to within 4-3, but Pridham sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:56.
Patrick O’Keefe (2), Shawn O’Donnell (1-2) and Cam Fergus netted the other goals for Saint Mary’s. Bradley Smith of Summerside contributed an assist for Saint Mary’s.
Brandon Biggers (2), Locke and Mike MacIsaac of O’Leary chipped in with helpers for the Panthers.
Goaltenders
Neil Conway earned the goaltending victory over Mavric Parks. Saint Mary’s outshot UPEI 32-30.
Referee Todd Thomander called a total of 11 minor penalties – six of those against UPEI, which also picked up one 10-minute misconduct for contact to the head.
