O versus D
Charlottetown Islanders in Sydney, N.S., tonight to play Eagles in rematch of last year’s first-round series
It’s a clash of styles tonight in Sydney, N.S., as the Cape Breton Eagles, with their highoctane offence, host the stingy Charlottetown Islanders.
Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200.
The Eagles have scored a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League-leading 48 goals while the Isles have allowed a leaguelow 21.
“I think we have to avoid falling in the trap of turning it into a rush game. I think that falls into the favour of Cape,” Islanders head coach Jim Hulton said before Tuesday’s practice. “It’s a bit of a chess match for who can stick to their game plan the most.”
Tonight’s game will be a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff series that saw the Isles win the first two games at home before Cape Breton rolled off four straight victories to advance to Round 2.
Noah Laaouan spent the first 1 ½ seasons of his junior career in Sydney, N.S., before being acquired by the Islanders for winger Derek Gentile in December. The blue-liner knows the kind of firepower the Eagles possess.
“They’re a really skilled team with a lot of veteran players,” he said. “They’ve proven they’re a top team in this league this year, but we’ve done a good job of keeping pucks out of our net and, I think, if we stick to playing the team defence that we (can), we should be able to keep them off the scoreboard.”
The Islanders are coming off their first loss in regulation Monday to the Halifax Mooseheads.
Halifax went 3-for-7 on the power play and scored shorthanded in a 4-1 win, despite being outshot 50-26. Alexis Gravel had an exceptional game in the Halifax crease.
“Our special teams have to be better,” Hulton said.
He noted those teams had improved but took a step back on Monday.
Playing with more discipline will be key again tonight as Cape Breton has the firepower to make teams pay for spending time in the sin bin.
“They’re a high-end team that can put out a couple of really good power-play units, so you have to minimize that,” Hulton said.
Laaouan said it is good to face adversity and see how it responds.
“It’s nice two days after (the loss) you get right back into battle,” he said.
Matthew Welsh will get the start for the Islanders, who are entering tonight’s game healthy.
The Islanders host Saint John Friday at 7:30 p.m. before heading to the Port City to play the Sea Dogs Saturday at
7 p.m.
The Islanders have had a great start to the season, being ranked seventh last week in the Kia Canadian Hockey League’s top 10 list.
“We’ll learn a lot more about our team in the second 10 (games),” Hulton said.
The Eastern Conference’s top seven teams are separated by three points.