Islanders score 4 in the third period to beat Screaming Eagles
After a three-game road trip through Quebec, the Islanders returned home to the Eastlink Centre for a battle with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday.
Pascal Aquin scored the first two goals for the Islanders and added an empty netter in the win. They were his 6th, 7th and 8th goals of the season.
Blade Mann-Dixon got the start in goal and was the games second star after stopping 35 of 38 shots.
The teams entered the third with the game tied at 2. Matt Grouchy (6th) scored at 2:16 of the period to put the Islanders ahead.
Grouchy looked for the pass but chose to shoot instead, he said after the game.
“Gregor (MacLeod) did a good job of forcing the guy at the point and I ended up forcing with him and he just kind of gave it to me and I took off. I couldn’t decide whether to pass it to Gregor or not, but I think shooting was the right choice.”
With Filip Chlapik and Chris Chaddock missing from the Islanders lineup, Grouchy was on the top line with Kameron Kielly and Jake Coughler tonight.
“It was great. They’re really good out there. They feed me the puck, I’ll feed them and I think we’ve gotten a lot of scoring chances. We just got to keep working hard and we’ll get our opportunities.”
Coughler made it a 4-2 game at 6:52 with his 20th of the season.
Sam King scored his first ever QMJHL goal at 7:34 to give the Islanders a three goal lead.
This is the Islanders 20th win of the season and improves them to 20-11-1-0 with 41 points. That places them fifth in league standings, 1 point behind the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies who sit in fourth place.
The Screaming Eagles fall to 9th place with a 16-14-2-1 record.
The Islanders have just two games left in the first half of the season, one at home and one on the road.
On Friday, the Moncton Wildcats are in town. 7pm puck drop with the annual teddy bear toss happening when the Islanders score their first goal of the game. It promises to be a good time at the Eastlink Centre!
Isles Notebook:
-Three Islanders had multi points night on Wednesday: Pascal Aquin (3g), Shawn Boudrias (2a) and Mitchell Balmas (2a).
-In his last three starts, Blade Mann-Dixon has faced 104 shots and has allowed just 4 goals.
-Tonight, Matthew Grouchy was 73% in the face-off circle.
Written by Darcy Cudmore
