ISLANDERS WIN AT HOME
Newcomers Brett Budgell and Cam Askew score in first game with new club
Two new players score in their first game with Charlottetown squad
What are the odds Brett Budgell and Cam Askew would score their first goals in their first game with their new Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) club on Thursday in Charlottetown? Pretty good, actually. Facing the Rimouski Oceanic, Budgell scored the eventual game-winning goal, his first in the QMJHL as well. That after Askew netted his first to open the scoring in front of sparse Eastlink Centre crowd due to a fierce winter storm.
Rimouski was in town after a game Wednesday in Saint John, N.B., so the game went forward despite much of the city and province shutting down.
Budgell, the team’s secondround pick last June, joined the Isles from the USHL for the second half of the season, while Askew was acquired in a trade from Shawinigan.
For Askew, 20, getting his first goal over with helped calm a few butterflies. His first-period fight with Rimouski’s AlexOlivier Voyer got that out of the way, too.
“Definitely had some nerves going into the game. Good to get the first goal out of the way. We wanted to get something going, they were giving it to us pretty good there in the first,” said Askew, who was named the game’s first star. “We stuck with the system. We gave them some zone time, but we didn’t panic. A good game to win against a really good hockey team.”
Charlottetown upped its mark to 23-12-2, while Rimouski dropped to 24-11-4. Third overall Rimouski and seventh overall Charlottetown sit just four points apart in the crowded standings.
As much as Budgell’s and Askew’s goals marked the game, turnovers played a larger part. All three goals resulted from turnovers in the second period and all three were unassisted.
Askew’s 14th of the season came after he swiped a clearing pass a few feet in front of Rimouski goalie Jimmy Lemay and rocketed the shot past him for a 1-0 edge at 8:30.
Ludovic Soucy tied three minutes later thanks to swiping a botched clearing attempt by Isles goalie Matthew Welsh that bounced off the boards right to the Oceanic forward’s lumber.
Finally, Budgell’s wrister over Lemay’s left shoulder five minutes after Soucy’s marker came about by a pesky Isles forecheck forcing a pass that bounced off a Rimouski skate right to the newbie’s stick.
For Budgell, 16, that first goal was one he’d thought of before lacing up on Thursday.
“I just threw it to the net and it went in. For sure, I was mentally prepared for this. Feels good,” said Budgell, who played 14 games with the Chicago Steel this season. “We played (the system) well and hung up a W.”
Welsh stopped 29 shots in the win and went to 21-9. Lemay kicked aside 28 shots and fell to 8-6.
Budgell was named the second star. Rimouski forward Carson MacKinnon, a Summerside native, earned the third star.
Next, the Isles host the BaieComeau Drakkar tonight at 7 p.m.