Trailing the Moncton Aigles Bleus 3-0 after a period, the Panthers scored twice to cut the deficit to one.
But 24 seconds after Beau McCue pumped MacLauchlan Arena full of hope, Saulnier tallied and the energy evaporated.
“The shift after a goal is always so huge,” Panthers goalie Matt Mahalak said. “Kind of a weird bounce there on that fourth one. It’s one I take a lot of responsibility for . . . A big momentum shift in the game and that falls on my shoulders.”
Trailing the Moncton Aigles Bleus 3-0 after a period, the Panthers scored twice to cut the deficit to one.
But 24 seconds after Beau McCue pumped MacLauchlan Arena full of hope, Saulnier tallied and the energy evaporated.
“The shift after a goal is always so huge,” Panthers goalie Matt Mahalak said. “Kind of a weird bounce there on that fourth one. It’s one I take a lot of responsibility for . . . A big momentum shift in the game and that falls on my shoulders.”
Jean-François Plante gave the visitors a 1-0 lead five minutes in, and Joël Blanchard made it 2-0 1:22 later. Samuel LeBlanc gave Moncton a 3-0 lead after one period of Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men’s hockey action.
“That one hurts,” assistant captain Ryan MacKinnon said. “They came here on a mission. They came ready to go. Right off the start you could tell they were more prepared than us.
“That’s a tough pill to swallow, especially this late in the season. We have a limited amount of games left.”
Beni Berisha got the Panthers on the board 7:22 into the second period when he tipped a Nelson Armstrong shot. McCue tallied on the power play after swatting the rebound of his own shot past Moncton goalie Brandon Thibeau.
Saulnier and Steve Lebel scored before the end of the period as Moncton took a 5-2 lead to the third.
The Panthers had three power-play chances in the final frame and while they peppered Thibeau at times, they couldn’t cash in. UPEI held an 11-3 shot advantage in the final 20 minutes and 29-28 for the game.
Pierre Durepos, Saulnier and his twin brother, Allain, each had two assists while Mathieu Bernier, Jean-Sébastien Fournier, Marc-Anthony Therrien and Victor Beaulac added singles. Gabe Guertler and Marcus Power added helpers for UPEI.
Thibeau stopped 27 shots for the win while Mahalak made 23 saves in the loss.
UPEI is 9-12-4, one point ahead of Moncton (10-14-1) for the fifth of six playoff spots with each team having five games remaining.
Despite the dejected mood following the loss, the Panthers came back onto the ice to skate with members of the Chinese community. As part of the Panthers Be Kind challenge, the Panthers invited an estimated 350 members of the Chinese community to the contest.
Two of the Panthers remaining games are against the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s top-ranked team, the UNB Varsity Reds, who happen to be the defending national champs. The Panthers travel to Fredericton Friday for a 7 p.m. contest with the Reds.
