Commandos answer back
Dieppe continues trend of road team winning as series vs. Caps now tied 2-2
The Dieppe Commandos answered the challenge.
The Commandos went into Tuesday night’s MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) playoff game on the road trailing the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals 2-1. Dieppe was also missing forwards Nicholas Jessome and Liam Conrad, who both began serving three-game suspensions.
But when the final buzzer sounded, the Commandos skated off the ice with a 5-3 win, and now head home for Game 5 of the best-of-seven Eastlink North Division semifinal series on Thursday night tied 2-2. “That was a big character win for us,” said Commandos defenceman Nolan Alward, who contributed two goals and an assist while earning first-star honours. “We’ve had a lot of adversity, a couple of suspensions. We just need to bring that effort to our next game.”
Road team
The road team has won the first four games of the series, something the Commandos want to change on Thursday. “We want to set the tone, and get the first home win for the series,” said Alward.
Caps head coach Billy McGuigan said he has “no explanation” for the success of the visiting teams.
“I don’t know what’s in the water, but both teams seem to play better on the road,” said McGuigan. “We are looking forward to Game 5 now.”
Short-handed goal
Before 1,284 fans at Eastlink Arena, Ryan Chiasson, who also scored twice and set up another, opened the scoring while short-handed early in the first period.
“That (goal) was huge,” noted Alward. “It got us going on the right note.”
Not only did the Commandos strike for the early lead while short-handed, Dieppe also successfully killed off some early Caps’ power plays to gain momentum and confidence.
“We didn’t capitalize early on our power plays,” said McGuigan, whose team did finish with two power-play goals. “We came late, but it wasn’t enough.” The Commandos built period leads of 1-0 and 4-1, and extended it to 5-1 early in the third period. The Caps cut the deficit to two goals, but it wasn’t enough.
Will Lafford also scored for Dieppe while Sebastien Cormier,
Alex Rawding and TJ Shea countered for the Caps.
Sam Jay of Freetown added an assist for the Commandos while Summerside’s helpers went to Brodie MacArthur, Kallum Muirhead, David Osborne and Alex McQuaid. Frederic Foulem earned the goaltending win. Matt Williams relieved Summerside starting goaltender Christofer Langlais following Dieppe’s fourth goal.
Animosity building
There was a steady parade to the penalty box in Game 4, and Alward agreed with the assessment that the animosity between the two teams on the ice appears to be increasing. “You are not wrong there,” said Alward. “For sure, it has been heated, but we have to stay away from that and play our own game because we will have a lot of success that way.”