Aigles Bleus outscore third-seeded Axemen 7-5 in high-scoring playoff opener

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The Moncton Aigles Bleus drew first blood in game one of the best-of-three Subway AUS men's hockey quarter-final series Wednesday night with a 7-5 road win over the CIS No. 8-ranked Acadia Axemen.

The Axemen closed out the first period with a 2-1 lead following goals by Brett Thompson on the man advantage in the opening 47 seconds and Mike Cazzola's goal with less than a minute remaining in the opening frame, Moncton kept within striking distance with Christian Gaudet scoring on the power-play at 8:28 in the first.

The Aigles Bleus went to work scoring three in a row that began with Guillaume Parenteau's goal in the opening two minutes of the second period.

Francis Rochon added two goals to give Moncton a 4-2 lead at the halfway point of the second frame.

Thompson and Cazzola would post two more goals, this time in the closing minutes of the second period to tie the game at four after two periods.

The Aigles Bleus continued capitalizing, despite being outshot 43-17 after two periods.

Jean Marc Leger scored the first of three third period goals. Rochon, named the Subway Player of the Game, scored his third of the night at 11:38 to give Moncton a 6-4 advantage.

Nineteen seconds after Rochon's third goal and eventual game winner, second year winger Alex Beaton breathed life back into the Axemen with his first of the playoffs to narrow the deficit to one.

Pierre-Antoine Dion shut the door on a possible Acadia comeback with Moncton's seventh goal at 16:01 in the third to give the Aigles Bleus a 7-5 victory over the Axemen.

Both teams were 2-for-4 on the power-play, while the Axemen outshot Moncton 60-24. 

Following the game, Acadia head coach Darren Burns was appreciative of the effort by his team.

"I don't want our team to change a thing. I thought we played an excellent game. We have a few small adjustments to make for game two. I thought our guys left everything on the ice that they could."

The Axemen will now travel to Moncton Friday night for game two of the Subway AUS men's hockey quarter-final series. The game will be available live via webcast at www.AUStv.ca with live stats available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/moncton/.

If necessary, a third and final game of the series will return to Wolfville on Sunday night at 7pm.

Source: Acadia Sports Information