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QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles

Eagles Open Road Trip by Topping Charlottetown in Saturday Night Thriller

February 6, 2021 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Cape Breton Eagles News Release


CHARLOTTETOWN - The Cape Breton Eagles picked up their first win of 2021 in an entertaining, action packed 5-4 victory over the Charlottetown Islanders on PEI Saturday night.

Charlottetown looked strong in the early going, outshooting the Eagles 8-1 in the opening five minutes and Drew Elliot hitting a crossbar. But the Eagles would weather the storm and take firm control of the game in the balance of the opening frame.

It started with the Eagles taking advantage of the period's only power play, as Liam Kidney redirected a Jarrett Baker shot by Colten Ellis prior to the 12 minute mark. Four minutes later, Kidney's linemate Émile Hegarty-Aubin would strike at even strength, stripping Noah Laaouan of the puck and putting it over Ellis on a breakaway.

The Eagles opening period assault would finish in the final two minutes when Cole Fraser sent the puck from halfway down the right boards to Nathan Larose at the blueline. Larose wired it through a Jack Campbell screen to put Cape Breton up 3-0 at the first horn.

The ice was titled through the first forty minutes, as the second period belonged to Charlottetown. Before there were any more goals though, there were fisticuffs as Larose and Kieran Gallant were sent to the penalty box. The next penalty saw Lukas Cormier of the home side sent off for hooking after the halfway mark of regulation.

But the Eagles couldn't score on the power play, and this time it was Charlottetown scoring short handed with Bailey Peach getting his first as an Islander. Before the period was out, Cédric Desruisseaux completed a give and go with Patrick Guay and it was a 3-2 score at the next siren.

While both teams had their turns dominating in the opening 40 minutes, the third period would be a back and forth encounter. The Eagles re-established a two goal advantage with a special goal- Matthew MacDonald burst through the defense to put his first career marker over Ellis. Exactly a minute later, there was a response from Charlottetown- a pair of diagonal passes that ended with Thomas Casey finishing a Brett Budgell feed from the side of the net.

MacDonald wasn't going to be the only player to get his first goal in Eagles colours, however. Making his Eagle debut, Dawson Stairs found himself on a 2 on 1 with Connor Trenholm. The new Eagle elected to keep and ripped a shot by Ellis to push the edge to 5-3 with under six minutes to go.

Charlottetown wasn't going to go away quietly. With almost three minutes remaining, coach Jim Hulton elected to pull Ellis for an extra attacker, and following a timeout Desruisseaux buried a one-timer to make it a one goal game once more. Following the goal, it took two attempts to get Ellis back to the bench, as the first time he had to race back to make a stop.

Ellis would reach the bench once more, and the Islanders would push until the final seconds with the final stop by Nicolas Ruccia coming on Charlottetown captain Budgell with just five seconds to play. The Eagles secured their first victory since the resumption of the 2020-21 QMJHL season.

Ruccia picked up the win, stopping 39 of 43 shots in the victory. Ellis took the loss, allowing five goals on 24 shots. On Friday Ellis tied a QMJHL mark for most consecutive victories to begin a season with 12, but the Eagles prevented him from seizing sole possession of the record.

The Eagles will finish their two game road trip in Halifax on Sunday against the Mooseheads. Puck drop is at 3:00 PM and it will be broadcast on Eastlink Television. The game will be streamed online, available for purchase at qmjhl.neulion.com/qmjhl. You can also hear all the action beginning with the pre-game show with Patrick McNeil at 2:30 PM on 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

1. Nicolas Ruccia (Cape Breton) 39 of 43 saves

2. Cédric Desruisseaux (Charlottetown) 2 goals, 1 assist

3. Jack Campbell (Cape Breton) 1 assist, +2

Scratches For Cape Breton: Ivan Ivan (border), Mikhail Nizovkin (border), William Grimard (upper body injury), Mark Rumsey (quarantine)

Scratches For Charlottetown: Ben Boyd, Félix Tremblay

Final Shots On Goal: 43-24 in favour of Charlottetown

Cape Breton Power Play: 1/3

Charlottetown Power Play: 0/2

Check out the Cape Breton Eagles Statistics



Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2021


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