QMJHL's Islanders continue home-game point streak with 3-1 win against Titan
- reegmacaulay
- Mar 21, 2024
- 5 min read
March 21, 2024
The Charlottetown Islanders (26-33-5-2) remain unstoppable on home ice, extending their home-game point streak to eight with a valiant 3-1 win against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (29-30-3-4) in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League regular-season action at the Eastlink Centre on Wednesday, March 20.
2800+ fans were treated to a physical, defense-heavy game which featured just 50 shots in total but also featured 33 penalty minutes. The Islanders struggled for some time but regained control in the second period, scoring two goals in three minutes and sealing the deal in the third period with a goal 23 seconds in.
Head coach Jim Hulton was pleased with the win, which he said was huge considering the team now has two games left until the playoffs.
"We were hoping to get some confidence in these last three games heading into the playoffs. Tonight was a step in the right direction. A big part of playoff hockey is being physical, being able to hit and take hits, and tonight was a good example of that. I thought the physical play, in particular, was a good element
"I liked our approach. It was playoff hockey. Low scoring, tight checking, that's what it's going to have to be. Special teams were good and I think we killed off six penalties, two for three on the power play. The age-old formula for success is special teams and goaltending. We had all those tonight," Hulton said.
Charlottetown's Carter Bickle earned his first win since Feb. 22, denying 26 of 27 shots and making two big saves in the dying moments. Hulton said his performance was a good bounce back after six straight losses and being pulled in his previous game, when he allowed four goals in 30 minutes against the Saint John Sea Dogs in Saint John, N.B.
"He was calm and I thought we did a really good job in front of him pushing a lot of stuff to the outside, not giving a high shot volume. He was big there at the end," Hulton said.
Bickle was happy to claim the resurgence.
"I was able to have a good bounce back coming to the end of the season and a good win here at home," Bickle said.
The first period went scoreless and Bathurst was the first team to get on the board as defenseman Emile Perron scored a power-play goal at 1:36. A few minutes later, Titan forward Robert Orr was handed a five-minute high-sticking major penalty (a.k.a. an ejection) after hitting Islanders forward Ross Campbell in the face. Campbell and Titan forward Milo Roelens were also sent to the box for roughing.
Hulton said the referees did the right thing making the call. The penalty was reviewed but stood.
"That's what Ross does. He gets under guy's skin. We've been on the other side of that equation a few times, so it was nice to be on the receiving end of it," Hulton said.
During the ensuing Charlottetown power play, captain Michael Horth stood at the front of the Titan's net and tipped a Marcus Kearsey shot past Titan goaltender Antoine Keller to get his team on the board. Three minutes later, Islanders forward William Shields collected the puck off a faceoff win and fired a wrist shot past Keller to give his team a 2-0 lead.
More physical action ensued minutes later as Islanders rookie forward Anthony Flanagan was hit hard in the Titan's defensive zone, leading to a scrum involving teammates Simon Hughes and Kyle Powers.
Hughes said it was part of playing hard and sticking up for teammates.
"Such a good, young 16-year-old like Flanagan, we're going to stick up for him every single time no matter what. He's a great player, but we do the same with everyone. We're a very close-knit group, and if someone gets hit dirty, we'll be the first ones there to stick up for them," Hughes said.
Hughes also stepped up on the scoresheet, giving the Islanders an insurance goal and a 3-1 lead 23 seconds into the second period with a rebound off an Isaac Vos shot from the blue line.
"We had a power play to start (the period) off. Funny enough, Vos said he was going to throw it on net for me. It was big, gave us a little bit of insurance, and the boys played well in the third (period)," Hughes said.
The rest of the game was scoreless as Charlottetown focused on guarding Carter Bickle and making his netminding job easier. They held on to win 3-1, making it eight straight home games with a point (a record of 6-0-2, W-L-OTL).
The final shots were 27-23 in favour of the Titan. Bickle denied 26 of 27 shots while Keller denied 20 of 23 shots. Charlottetown went 2-for-3 on the power-play while Bathurst went 1-for-7. The three stars of the game were Isaac Vos (one assist), William Shields (one goal and one assist), and Bickle.
Now, the Islanders set their eyes on ending the regular season on a high note as they welcome a rival, the Cape Breton Eagles (37-26-1-2), to the Eastlink Centre for a weekend doubleheader on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23. Heading into the games, Cape Breton leads the season series 4-3, but Charlottetown outweighs them in games at the Eastlink Centre 2-1, previously beating the Eagles 5-4 on Dec. 15, 2023.
Hulton said the goal going into the weekend will be to build good habits and correct things.
"Special teams are one thing we want to keep cooking here. The penalty kills have been much better. For general play away from the puck, we made some tweaks this week we want to continue to try to perfect.
"They're going to be really good games. They're in a battle for home ice (advantage in the playoffs), so it's going to be a playoff preview, which is good for us. We want to have that intensity. We don't want to have to be able to flip it like a light switch because that's not how it works. Tied in with that is making sure we don't cross the line and we keep our discipline," Hulton said.
Hulton confirmed overage forward Giovanni Morneau has been cleared to play after being out with a long-term injury and will likely be in the lineup for Saturday's game, which is when the team will honour its overage players. Defenseman Carl-Etienne Michel is also expected to return to the lineup on the weekend, while fellow defenseman Anton Topilnyckyj will remain sidelined until the playoffs.
Friday's puck drop is at 7 p.m. and Saturday's puck drop is at 4 p.m.
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