Islanders rally to beat Val-d’Or

So how do you turn a 3-0 deficit into a 6-4 win like the Charlottetown Islanders did against the Val-d’Or Foreurs on Thursday in Charlottetown?

Isles d-man Pierre-Oliver Joseph, who happened to score the eventual winning goal, had an idea after the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game.

“We just wanted to stay positive between periods. We knew we could play better and a couple of bounces didn’t go our way,” said Joseph, whose Islanders were down 2-0 after the first period. “We knew we could play with these guys.”

The win gives Charlottetown a 6-6-1 record and its fifth straight victory. Val-d’Or (6-60-1) dropped its first game of a three-game-in-three-night road trip.

Simon Lafrance at 5:05 and 10:18 gave the Foreurs that 2-0 edge in the first. Then 1:01 in the second, Mederick Racicot made it 3-0 Val-d’Or and Charlottetown looked cooked.

But a good shift following Racicot’s goal sparked the Isles and three minutes later Gregor MacLeod got his first of two goals in the game to make it 3-1. That unhinged Val-d’Or enough. The Isles drew a hooking penalty and 49 seconds into the power play, Joseph notched his first marker of the year and first in the game.

At 3-2, MacLeod connected on another power play and tied things 3-3.

In the third frame, Sullivan Sparkes gave Charlottetown a 4-3 edge at 9:25 then Joseph potted his second three minutes later on a wrister from the point.