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QMJHL Charlottetown Islanders

The Good Times Keep on Rolling, Islanders Win 6-2 Once Again

March 7, 2020 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Charlottetown Islanders News Release


In the immortal words of the former Conehead Wade Babineau: "It must feel like Groundhog Day!"

The Charlottetown Islanders offense came alive once again on Friday night, and it was spread throughout the lineup this time. Cedric Desruisseaux and Cole Edwards each cracked the scoresheet twice, while Jacob Goobie backstopped his team to a fantastic 38-save performance as the Islanders defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-2 for the third straight game, their sixth straight victory.

"He was terrific," said Islanders head coach Jim Hulton on his backup netminder's performance. "It's not an easy spot for Jacob to be in; he hasn't played in a couple weeks but he's been working extremely hard in practice. We didn't exactly make it easy on him, giving up forty plus shots, but you can see his confidence growing in leaps and bounds. He's going to get a lot of playing time down the stretch once we solidify our positioning."

While the Islanders gave up forty shots to the Sea Dogs, they did their own damage on Sea Dogs starter Zachary Bouthillier, taking 54 shots in the game. It's the fourth time in six games that they broke the 50 shot plateau, with one of those games coming close with 49 shots. It's a mentality that the entire team has bought in to.

"It's taken us a long time to get here, and it's something we've been pushing for a while," explained Hulton regarding the shoot-first mentality. "They've really embrace it because they can see the results. The one thing we wanted to adjust from last night is that we wanted to get back in to that shot mentality. It wears goaltenders down, and I think that's what happened tonight."

Drew Johnston made his return to the lineup tonight following an upper-body injury and made an immediate impact. The 18-year-old forward would get the primary assist on the first goal of the game, sliding a nice pass to Zac Beauregard on a 2-on-1. The diminutive forward would wire a wrister through the wickets of Bouthillier for his eighth goal of the season.

Johnston wasn't done there; Beauregard would return the favour not long after during 4-on-4 play, working hard down low to slide the puck out to a waiting Johnston. He'd just lift the puck over Bouthillier's trapper for his 11th goal of the season, giving the Isles a 2-0 lead heading in to the 2nd period.

The Saint John native was happy to get back in the lineup, and complimented the work of the hockey operations staff for getting him in to the game.

"We have the best staff around; Kevin [Elliott], Jim, everyone was motivating me to get better, and tonight the hard work paid off," said Johnston following the victory.

The Sea Dogs would get one back in the second period but the story of the period quickly became Goobie. The 16-year-old rookie was lights out in the second, stifling a number of great Sea Dogs opportunities in his first action since February 16th against the Shawinigan Cataractes. He turned away 18 shots in the period to maintain the lead heading in to the third.

Fortunately for Goobie, his teammates would reward him. Immediately off the opening faceoff the Islanders went to work and it paid dividends; Desruisseaux would get the first of two goals in the game, crashing the crease hard on a mad scramble before poking the puck bast Bouthillier, giving the shift forward 13 goals on the year.

Desruisseaux would add his 14th not long after; off a faceoff to the right of the Sea Dogs net, the Victoriaville native would quickly sneak behind the Sea Dogs centreman and backhand a puck at Bouthillier, catching him by surprise. The puck would squeak between his legs and wind up in the net.

Edwards would join in on the fun and cap the game off in style, scoring two great individual effort goals to secure the victory, including a beautiful wraparound goal that just snuck between Bouthillier's skate blade and the post. The Kingston native now has 11 goals on the season.

The Isles won't have to wait long to get back in action, as they'll welcome Kevin Gursoy and the Halifax Mooseheads to town for Toonie Tuesday! All prices are in increments of $2; tickets are available at the Eastlink Centre box office, by phone at 902-629-6625, or online at https://boxoffice.eastlinkcentrepei.com.

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