Islanders sink Armada
Charlottetown takes Game 1 in semifinal via shutout
One down, three to go for the Charlottetown Islanders after they shut out the BlainvilleBoisbriand Armada 3-0 in Game 1 of the teams’ semifinal series Friday in Charlottetown. The Islanders have won nine playoff games in a row. Game Two is tonight at 7 p.m. at Eastlink Centre.
Kameron Kielly and Alex Dostie each netted power-play goals in the second period and Dillon Boucher added an empty net score late in the third.
But it was Isles goalie Mark Grametbauer who kept the squad on track, especially in an opening period that saw the revved-up Armada outshoot a sluggish Charlottetown squad, who hadn’t played since April 14, 14-8.
“In the first period they came out strong. They had the momentum of winning three straight games and we had been off for over a week. But in the second and third period the guys were ready to go,” said Grametbauer, who stopped 37 shots in the win. “(The win) meant a lot. With the long break you can spend a lot of time second-guessing ourselves. It shows we can play with almost any team in the league.”
The shutout was Grametbauer’s third this season against the Armada, all 3-0 scores.
The Armada, which won three straight games over AcadieBathurst to reach the semis, shot out of the gate with jump early in the first period and held the energy up for much of the frame. At one point it led 12-3 in shots.
But Grametbauer and the Isles D kept the Armada off the scoreboard, including killing three minutes of power play time after Pascal Aquin was nabbed for two minutes for boarding and booted out with a game misconduct.
In the second, as a power play wound down, Kielly took a nice touch pass from Daniel Sprong for a breakaway chance then beat Samuel Montembeault high over the left shoulder for a 1-0 edge at 1:13. The goal came just seconds after Armada forward Pierre-Luc Dubois missed high on a two-on-one shorthanded attempt, which Sprong corralled and siphoned to Kielly. Dostie struck five minutes later by sending Kielly’s rebound under Montembeault’s left pad.
Then in the third, the Islanders clamped down defensively and kept the Armada outside and limited any good scoring chances.
Boucher then potted his fourth goal of the playoffs at 17:58 with Montembeault on the bench for an extra attacker.
For Armada captain Guillaume Beaudoin, the game came down to special teams. Theirs were better than his and that has to change in Game 2, he said.
“I think we had a good first period, but not so good in the second and third. We took a couple of bad penalties. Their special units were better that ours. The special units cost us the game,” said Beaudoin. “(Saturday) is all about the details. They blocked more shots, got to
bouncing pucks better that us. (And we need) better scoring chances. We’re shooting from the perimeter and it makes it easy for Mark to see.”