Cats beat Islanders for first win
The Cariboo Cougars have their first win at the Telus Cup but it sure wasn’t easy.
The Cape Breton West Islanders, on their 13th power play of the game and skating with a 6-on-4 advantage, had a real shot at tying it up in the dying seconds.
But the Cougars had their best penalty-killer, goalie Marcus Allen, on the case and he came up with a game-saving stop to preserve a 4-3 victory and knock off the only undefeated team in the midget hockey national championship.
Hunter Floris sparked the Cougars’ offence with a pair of goals, while Daine Dubois and Darian Long, with the gamewinner, each collected singles. Keenan Gillis, Sean Stewart and Logan Chisholm replied for the Islanders.
The story of this game was the revolving door attached to the penalty boxes. The Cougars played shorthanded 13 times and the Islanders had seven penalties to kill.
“We had some warriors today, the guys who killed the penalties – Long, (Tyler) Maser, (Mason) Richey, and Allen, the best one of them all,” said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague.
“We have to be a lot smarter and a lot better. You’re not going to win this tournament by being undisciplined and it falls on me. We were the highest-penalized team in the major midget league and we come in here thinking we’re going to get away with stuff. It’s the retaliation stuff, the slashing and cross-checking, and that’s where you see the entitlement. You have to grow up, and it didn’t show out there today.”
In the first period alone, Cape Breton has four power-play chances and the Cougars had three and neither team capitalized. The only goal came at even strength 14:18 into the game. Joel Patsey sprung Long on a fast break through the middle and Long’s shot from the slot was stopped by goalie Colten Ellis but the rebound landed right on the stick blade of Floris, who had the an empty net to fire at for his first goal of the tournament.
The penalty-parade continued in the second period and the Cougars were the culprits, taking four more minors, three of which were bone- headed lapses in judgement. If not the some superb penalty-killing from the Cougars, who limited the shots Allen had to face, the Islanders easily could have had the lead.
After a lengthy 5-on-3 penalty kill that left the visitors from Nova Scotia scoreless in eight opportunities with the game only half over, Floris seized the momentum with a great individual play to make it a 2-0 game.
The 17-year-old from Vanderhoof took off with the puck at centre ice and split the defence, leaving Stewart and Dylan MacDonald fishing for the puck. Floris finished with a backhander that ticked off both goalposts before it ended up in the net behind Ellis.
Cape Breton got caught with back-to-back penalties and during the second one the Cougars’ power play made them pay. Dubois found the puck in the blue paint in front of Ellis and chipped in a backhander for his first Telus Cup goal 18:12 into the second period.
But the referees were watching when Cougars Reid Perepeluk made head contact and Jonas Harkins boarded an opponent in the corner and both were sent off at the same time. Allen made a couple of sharp saves on the 5-on3 chance but couldn’t get across the crease in time to stop a wicked blast from Islanders defenceman Gillis, who made it a 3-1 count, 14 seconds before the period break.
In the third period, Stewart’s long slapper from the point found a seam through Allen’s legs to cut the lead to 3-2.
Whatever was said by the Cougars coaches to their troops in the second intermission to try to stop the penalty parade, it slowed the tide but didn’t stop it. They’d just killed off their 12th penalty and Riley Krane jumped out of the box just in time to create a turnover in the neutral zone.
Long made a nice play to keep himself onside as he took the puck in alone with a burst of speed and scored with a backhand deke through the legs of Ellis to restore the two-goal lead with eight minutes left.
Chisholm made it interesting in the end with a shorthanded goal with 1:58 left, chipping the puck in from the side of the net over the blocker of Allen.
The Islanders’ loss left them tied atop the standings with Mississauga and Leduc, each with 2-1-0 records. The Cougars (1-1-1) joined the logjam, one point back of the leaders and one point ahead of Saint-Francois (1-2). Regina (0-2-1) remains winless.
The Cougars take on Saint-Francois tonight at 7:30. Sprague said goalie Zack Wickson will get the start, his first of the tournament.
TELUS TIDBITS: The Cougars dropped down to just five defenceman late in the first period when Patsey, a Prince George Cougars WHL draft pick, was tossed from the game for checking from behind… All of the Cariboo Cougars games this week will be broadcast on 99.3 FM The Drive with play-by-play from Ron St. Clair.