Wild splits games

Kensington drops road decision to undefeated Flyers after thrilling OT win at home

The Moncton Flyers have taken an early-season stranglehold on first place in the New Brunswick/ P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League.

The Flyers defeated the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild 4-1 on Sunday afternoon to open up a seven-point lead over the Wild and Saint John Vitos. Moncton is 9-0-0 (won-lost-overtime losses) while Kensington (5-2-1) had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Saturday night, the Wild rallied for a 6-5 overtime win over the Vitos while the Flyers blanked the visiting Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride 5-0.

Flyers 4 Wild 1

At the Superior Propane Centre, a big story of the game was the Wild’s struggles on the power play. Kensington finished with a 1-for-8 summary while the Flyers failed to score in two opportunities. Alex Dube (2), Keegan Hunt and Brock Forsythe scored for the Flyers, who led 2-1 after one period and 3-1 at the end of two. Colby MacArthur, assisted by Zach Biggar and Ethan Beaulieu, answered for the Wild. Flyers goaltender Mathias Savoie blocked 34 of 35 shots while the Wild’s Chad Arsenault was tested 38 times.

Wild 6 Vitos 5 (OT)

Keiran Gallant, who was set up by Isaac Wilson, scored a powerplay goal at 4:17 of the extra period to send a lot of the estimated 400 spectators at Credit Union Centre into a frenzy as the Wild rallied from a 4-1 deficit after one period.

Biggar (1-1), MacArthur (11), Wilson, Dixon MacLeod and bantam-aged Simon Hughes, who tied the game 5-5 at 11:01 of the third period, also dented the twine for the Wild. Bennett MacArthur and Ryan Richards each contributed a pair of assists.

Jake Kyle (1-1), Riley Bezeau (1-1), Jack Dickie, Adam Bowness and Connor Richard answered for the Vitos (5-5-0), who took a 5-3 advantage into the second intermission.

Josh Smith earned the goaltending win over Rylan Holder.

Kensington visits the Vitos on Friday night, and returns home to host the Fredericton Caps on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Fredericton took a 2-4-2 record into Sunday afternoons’ game versus the Northern Moose (1-9-0).

Flyers 5 Pride 0

At the Superior Propane Centre, Dominic LeBlanc (1-1), Cameron Bulmer, Matt Lint, Yannick Bastarache and Patrick LeBlanc scored for the Flyers, who built period leads of 1-0 and 4-0. Jacob LeBlanc posted a 24-save shutout while Pride goaltender Erik MacInnis had a much busier night, facing 41 shots.

The Pride (4-3-0) visits Northern on Friday evening, and hosts Saint John at the Bell Aliant Centre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

JASON SIMMONDS/JOURNAL PIONEER Keiran Gallant’s overtime winner brought a number of fans out of their seats at Credit Union Centre in Kensington on Saturday night. Isaac Wilson, who set up the tally, rushes to congratulate Gallant on his overtime goal in the Kensington Wild’s 6-5 decision against the Saint John Vitos a New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League game.