DO-OR-DIE HOCKEY
Charlottetown must beat the Armada today to extend playoff series
Charlottetown must beat the Armada today to extend QMJL playoff series
It won’t be easy for the Charlottetown Islanders to win Game 5 without sniper Daniel Sprong, but winning wasn’t going to be easy with him.
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League suspended the 19-year-old Sprong, the team’s leading playoff scorer, for today’s semifinal contest with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He received a five-minute major for hitting an Armada player in the head during a scuffle ending Game 4’s loss in Blainville-Boisbriand on Wednesday.
Charlottetown returned from the Montreal suburb down 3-1 in the best-of-seven matchup and must win today to extend the series. Game time is 4 p.m. at Eastlink Centre.
Despite trailing, the team remains confident in its ability.
“The series is not done. We’re going to give it our all tomorrow and we’ll get the win,” captain Guillaume Brisebois said Friday night.
The Islanders won nine in a row to start the playoffs before losing a week ago in Game 2 in Charlottetown. They lost backto-back games in Boisbriand, Que. before returning to home
ice for tonight’s must-win game.
“We have a strong team, so we’ll bounce back,’’ Brisebois said.
The math is simple: the Islanders must win three straight games in order to win the series. But they don’t have far to look for inspiration.
“They did it the last series,’’ Brisebois said of the Armada. “They were down 3-1 in the series (and came back to win). We can do it too.”
UPEI Panthers captain Brent Andrews knows what it’s like to be on a team in a deep hole.
In 2012, the Halifax Mooseheads
fell behind the Quebec Remparts 3-0, but were able to win four straight contests, including Game 7 in overtime, to advance to the semifinal.
The Hunter River native said Friday it couldn’t approach Game 4 as a large mountain to climb.
“You just have to take it game by game,” he said. “You just have to come out and worry about each shift and not worry about the next game or that it could be the last game. You just keep present in the moment.’’
Andrews said they gained some momentum by winning one game. After the second victory, the pressure shifted to the Remparts and once the Mooseheads tied the series they were able to complete the comeback.
Sprong has nine goals and 20 points in the post-season. Meanwhile, the Armada lost Christian Wejse in Wednesday’s melee for one game with an aggressor infracation. Wejse is scoreless in nine playoff games.
A key to the series has been the Islanders’ trips to the penalty box and Blainville-Boisbriand capitalizing with the man advantage. The Isles have operated without its high-powered offence at even strength for long stretches.
The Armada’s power play is a hot 7-for-19 (37 per cent), and while Charlottetown is 4-for-9 overall (44 per cent) it went 0-for-4 in Blainville-Boisbriand.
Pascal Aquin returns to the Islanders lineup tonight after his three-game suspension for boarding in Game 1.
Game 6, if necessary, is Sunday, at 5 p.m., in Boisbriand. Should the Isles force Game 7, it goes Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre.