X-Men defeat Tommies 4-2

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - The StFX X-Men got back in the win column with a 4-2 victory over the St. Thomas Tommies Saturday evening at the Keating Centre.

The X-Men came out firing early and often as they outshot the Tommies 10-4 in the opening period. It was the visitors who got on the board first however, as Felix Poulin scored on the power play at 15:58. The puck pin-balled in off a couple bodies to give St. Thomas a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Jonathan Bonneau had the lone assist on the Poulin goal.

The X-Men had several good scoring chances in the first period but couldn't convert. They continued to pressure in the second period and it paid off as the blue and white scored three unanswered goals.

Rob Slaney got it started at 4:56 when he took a Ted Stephens pass and buried it up high past Tommies goaltender Jonathan Groenheyde. Murdock MacLellan also had a helper on the goal.

Steven Kuhn scored the second X goal at 9:54, then Brandon Hynes followed up less than a minute later to give the X-Men a 3-1 lead.

Subway Player of the Game Zack MacQueen dug the puck out from behind the net to find Kuhn who made no mistake in finding the back of the mesh. Jarrad Struthers also assisted on the play.

Hynes converted on a two-on-one play with Cole Grbavac.

The Tommies fought back to within a goal at 3-2 as Matt Bissonnette picked up a rebound and beat StFX netminder Drew Owsley with five minutes remaining in the second frame. Brendan Childerley and Michael Beaudry assisted.

StFX had a flurry of scoring chances late in the second, including a five-on-three power play opportunity but Groenheyde held his ground and the score remain 3-2 in favour of the X-Men after two periods. Shots were 13-10 for StFX.

The third period saw fewer shots on goal from both squads (8-6 for the X-Men) and was nearly scoreless until MacQueen popped in an empty net goal with nine seconds left on the clock.

The final shot tally was 31-20 for the X-Men who improve to 10-9-1 on the season. Owsley had 18 saves for the win while Groenheyde took the loss in a 27 save effort. The Tommies fall to 5-13-2 in seventh place in the AUS standings.

The X-Men currently sit in fifth spot with 21 points, one back of fourth-place UPEI and three back from Moncton. UNB and Acadia are tied for first place with 33 points apiece.

Next on the schedule for the X-Men is a game at home on Friday, Jan. 24 against the sixth-place Saint Mary's Huskies (9-11-0, 18 points). Game time is set for 7 p.m.  

The Tommies will visit the defending CIS champion Varsity Reds that same night in Fredericton. Puck drop is also set for 7 p.m.

Source: StFX Sports Information