Huskies tighten playoff race with 5-2 win over Panthers
2026 remains a struggle for the UPEI Panthers, who are 0-3 to begin the new year and exited their first weekend on home ice with one of a potential four points across two games. On top of that, it’s game on for the playoff race.
By Reegan MacAulay
2026 remains a struggle for the UPEI Panthers, who are 0-3 to begin the new year and exited their first weekend on home ice with one of a potential four points across two games. On top of that, it's game on for the playoff race.
Four goals in just over 12 minutes by the SMU Huskies and multiple costly penalties early in the third period for UPEI are what ultimately sent the Huskies to a 5-2 victory over the Panthers Saturday afternoon at MacLauchlan Arena.
UPEI showed promise in the early stages, quickly generating chances, playing with grit, drawing penalties, and carrying over their scoring pressure from the night before. However, once the Huskies found their groove with goals by Mia Faseruk (14:58 1st) and Keyara Nelson (9:14 2nd), the Panthers were unable to recover.
There was one short-lived sliver of hope nearly a minute and a half after Nelson's 2-0 tally. At 10:35 of the second, after Chiara Esposito missed wide from the top of the left circle, Kierra St. Peter pounced on the loose puck behind the net and tucked a wraparound into the open net to cut the deficit in half for her ninth goal this season.
Just as it seemed UPEI was back on track, Charlotte Buffie restored SMU's two-goal lead at 13:59. From there, the Huskies continued to swing the game's momentum in their favour. The script – especially within the shot category – flipped entirely after Kaiya Maracle was penalized four minutes for contact to the head at 19:52. SMU returned to the ice after the intermission and potted two power-play goals – scored by Avery Cant and Buffie – within the first 1:32 of the third period.
Brooke Henderson responded for UPEI at 5:53, receiving a feed from Ashley McCutcheon in Panthers territory, charging down the left wing and shooting from the left circle. The puck ricocheted off Sophie Scully's pad and a defender in front into the net for Henderson's league-leading 12th goal of the season. By then, unfortunately, the Panthers had run out of fuel, allowing the Huskies to cruise to another high-scoring win over UPEI.
Erin Cabaday started the game for the Panthers, denying 29 of 34 shots.
After Saturday's game, UPEI and Moncton are now tied for fourth, each with 22 points, five back of the five-wins-in-a-row, 27-point STU Tommies. SMU, still in seventh and now one point outside the playoff picture with 19, is only three points behind UPEI, leaving a four-team, three-point bubble for fourth, meaning every game and point from here on out matters even more.
The Panthers will have a massive opportunity this Wednesday to make a statement when they host the league-leading UNB Reds at 7 p.m. The last time UNB visited, UPEI stunned them 3-0 in home-opening action in October 2025. The Reds have since avenged the Panthers twice in Fredericton, N.B., most recently with a 5-0 rout.
Photos by Janessa Vanden Broek
