EVERYTHING WENT RIGHT IN CAPS’ SHUTOUT WIN.
Roberts, MacArthur, Tmej lead way in Caps’ shutout victory over Slammers
It has been a good start to a key stretch of home games for the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals. Midget-aged rookie forward Cameron Roberts of Kensington scored two goals, sophomore forward Brodie MacArthur of Summerside contributed three assists and goaltender Dominik Tmej recorded a solid 29-save shutout in leading the Caps to a convincing 6-0 victory over the Woodstock Slammers at Eastlink Arena on Saturday night.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Roberts, 17. “I played with a lot of pretty good players like TJ (Shea), Austin (Taylor), Brodie (MacArthur) and Zach (Thususka) that game. We had a lot of good chemistry out there, and it was good to get the two goals.”
It was the Caps’ second win in three days on home ice after defeating the Valley Wildcats 4-2 on Thursday. The Caps are 9-9-1-0 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses), and host the St. Stephen Aces (715-1-0) in another key Eastlink North Division matchup in the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) on Thursday at 7 p.m. “We are battling with them (Aces) for a playoff spot, so it’s a big two points at stake for us,” said Roberts, a Grade 12 student at Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School. Roberts, who has three goals and three assists for six points
in 19 regular-season games, admits he’s starting to feel more comfortable after making the jump from the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild major midget program to junior A.
“At the start of the year it was a little bit of a struggle adjusting to the speed and the bigger guys,” said Roberts, whose father, George Roberts, was the first-ever team captain of the Western Capitals in 1981-82 and is a former team president. “As the year has gone on, it has gotten better. My confidence is definitely getting higher, especially the last couple of weeks.”
Point streak
Shea recorded a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games. Shea, who is from Anglo/Tignish, has recorded 31 points during this stretch. Thususka, Riley Smith and Josh MacDonald also scored for the Caps.
Tmej was quick to deflect praise to his teammates following his first shutout in a Caps’ uniform.
“There was a lot of outside shots,” said Tmej. “It wasn’t 29 huge saves, and there were a lot of outside shots.”
Since being acquired in a trade with Valley on Nov. 15, Tmej has appeared in three games with the Caps, and has won both his starts. He has a microscopic 1.14 goals-against average and has stopped 73 of 76 shots for a .960 save percentage.
“It’s not about my play,” emphasized the 18-year-old Tmej, who was born in the Czech Republic and moved, at age 13, to the United States (Tampa Bay area). “The team has been really solid, especially tonight (Saturday).
“We had a lot of blocked shots, the system was working and we scored six goals. What else can you ask for as a goalie?” Although Tmej has only been with the Caps a short time, he likes what he sees.
“It’s a great organization,” he said. “Our team is really good, and we are only getting better as the games go. I think there are big things in front of this group.”