Focusing on the win
MacKinnon looking forward to playing in P.E.I.
Playing at the Eastlink Centre never gets old for Carson MacKinnon.
The second-year centre with the Rimouski Oceanic makes his only trip to Charlottetown tonight to play the Islanders at 7 p.m.
“It’s always exciting,” the Summerside native said Wednesday night from Moncton. “I get the jitters to play in front of family and friends, but at the same time, you just have to remember you’re going in there to get two points and that’s the main focus for tomorrow.” MacKinnon trains in the summer with Islanders assistant captain Kameron Kielly and played with goalie Matthew Welsh growing up. MacKinnon was a teammate of Francois Beauchemin a year ago in Rimouski, Que.
“He’s having quite the year,” MacKinnon said of Beauchemin. “I’m happy for him in that way, but it’s obviously very different to see him in a different jersey.”
Rimouski is 24-31-5-0, and MacKinnon said the young team with a bright future has recently dealt with some injuries. MacKinnon himself missed a couple of games with pneumonia, but he said it would have been more had it not occurred the week before the Christmas break. He said it took some of his strength away, but he was able to quickly regain it and is enjoying his sophomore season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The 17-year-old forward has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 57 games. He had 14 points in his 65-game rookie season a year ago.
“My coach wants me to play responsibly defensively and chip in offensively,” he said. It makes games like tonight a challenge with the Islanders possessing the league’s top offence.
“They’ve got superstars like (Daniel) Sprong, (Alex) Dostie, Beauchemin. They’ve got it all,” he said. “You obviously have to look after the D zone a little bit more in these types of games because if you give the space to Sprong, (Filip) Chlapik, Beauchemin, they’ll definitely take advantage and it will be very costly.”
The Islanders beat the host Oceanic 5-3 Sunday in the only meeting between the clubs this season.
“We were pretty close to beating them at home, so it just makes you that much more hungry.”