QMJHL Charlottetown Islanders

Penalty Problems Play Factor as Islanders Lose to Sea Dogs

Published on January 4, 2020 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Charlottetown Islanders News Release


The Charlottetown Islanders are heading home with a split.

Josh Lawrence and Joshua Roy each finished with three points as the Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Islanders 4-3 in the second half of a back-to-back series at the TD Station.

After a game just 24 hours earlier, playing their fifth game in eight days to start the second half, and with just eleven forwards dressed, it appeared that time was catching up to the Islanders. They got out of the gate slow, and Lawrence took advantage. The Fredericton native scored twice early in the first stanza, capitalizing on broken plays in the Islanders zone to give him 10 goals on the season and the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead.

Lukas Cormier would have an answer before the end of the period, however. The 17-year old would receive a pass from Brett Budgell in the high slot and wire a wrister past Zachary Bouthillier for his fifth goal of the season and first since he returned from an ankle injury.

The jump that the Islanders were missing in the first period was found in the second. Charlottetown was flying from the drop of the puck, and their tenacious play was rewarded with powerplay time. The Sea Dogs started a parade to the penalty box early in the second, and the Islanders would get on the board accordingly. Thomas Casey would finish off a passing play by tapping the puck past Bouthillier for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Budgell would keep the momentum rolling before the end of the period with a beautiful goal just before the end of the second period. The 18-year-old would continue a hot stretch of play as of late, gathering a puck just outside the blueline and drive hard to the net, deking around Bouthillier at the last minute and sliding the backhander in to the net, giving Budgell his 15th goal on the year.

Just as the penalties favoured the Islanders in the second, the pendulum of momentum swung in favour of the Sea Dogs in the third. Two quick penalties to Lukas Cormier and Patrick Leblanc yielded a pair of quick goals by the Sea Dogs, with Dawson Stairs and Joshua Roy taking advantage of the man advantage. Unfortunately for the Islanders, the Roy goal would stand as the game winner.

Matthew Welsh made 26 saves in the defeat. Cormier, Budgell, and Cedric Desruisseaux each finished with multi-point efforts, while Drew Johnston and Noah Laaouan each added single assists.

The Islanders return home for their next game, a Wednesday night game tilt against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Tickets are available as always at the Eastlink Centre box office, by phone at 902-629-6625, or online.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2020


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