Tigers earn home win over X-Men

By Jack Longo 

The Dalhousie Tigers men's hockey team defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men at The Halifax Forum on Wednesday night. The Tigers win ended their two-game losing streak and moved them into a tie for third in the AUS men's hockey standings with 15 points.

The first period belonged to Dalhousie. After the teams traded chances early, the Tigers started to position themselves more and more in the X-Men's end. Dalhousie found plenty of opportunities to centre the puck but couldn't quite find an open man. Whereas the Tigers relied on high pressure in the X-Men's end, the away team's opportunities in the first period came from counter-attacking scenarios. 

After some good X-Men forechecking, a giveaway from Dalhousie right on their goalmouth almost led to a StFX goal but couldn't be converted. Just after, Dalhousie got called for a tripping penalty and the X-Men had a chance to assert themselves on the game. However, a minute into the penalty kill the Tigers caused a turnover at their own blueline and went on a breakaway. A great solo move past the goalie by Brett Crossley (Dartmouth, NS) gave Dalhousie a 1-0 lead with nine minutes remaining in the period. 

The Tigers then successfully killed the rest of the penalty and went on the offensive again. Some forechecking from the Tigers led to a giveaway deep in X-Men territory, and a clean shot from the slot by Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) doubled Dalhousie's lead with 7:05 remaining. 

As the first period wore on the X-Men grew into the game and were rewarded as the period came to a close. With 45 seconds remaining, StFX pressured Dalhousie in the home team's end and, after a scramble around Dalhousie's net, the X-Men came away with a goal as Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) tucked the puck past the Tigers goalie. The goal from the X-Men made it a 2-1 scoreline heading into the second period. 

The opening stages of the second period didn't feature any goals but there was still plenty of action, mostly around the X-Men's net. Dalhousie outshot the visitor's eight to one in the first half of the period and were ultimately rewarded for the pressure they created when, right off a face-off in the X-Men's end, Dillon Boucher (Head Chezzetcook, NS) buried the shot to give Dalhousie a 3-1 lead. Only a minute later, the Tigers found the back of the net again, this time it was Campbell Pickard (Halifax, NS) who extended the lead to 4-1 for the home side. 

With six minutes left in the period, the X-Men's goalie Blade Mann-Dixon (Antigonish, NS) made a good double-save to stop the lead from growing any more. After that the visitors were the stronger team to close the period. Unfortunately for the X-Men, they couldn't come away with a late goal like in the first period. 

Dalhousie led 4-1 heading into the third period. 

The third period was highlighted by another short-handed goal, this time from the visiting X-Men. After a five-minute major penalty was called for contact to the head, the X-Men battled through almost all five minutes before finding that elusive second goal of the night. With 17 seconds left in the penalty, Sam Allison (Cole Harbour, NS) and Liam Hewal (Arnprior, ON) played a beautiful give-and-go that Allison finished off to cut the Tigers lead to 4-2. 

That was as close as the X-Men came though as the game finished 4-2 in Dalhousie's favour. 

Reilly Pickard had 22 saves for the Tigers and was the Subway Player of the Game. 

The X-Men's Liam Hewal finished with two assists, assisting on both goals for the visitors. 

Next up, the X-Men host the UPEI Panthers on Friday at 7pm. 

Dalhousie's next game is also against UPEI as they travel to the Panthers on Saturday. Puck drop is at 7pm.