Knight shuts down Capitals

Timberwolves goaltender turns in 36-save effort vs. former team

MIRAMICHI, N.B. – Goaltender Ryan Knight turned in a 36-save performance against his former team in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) on Nov. 17.

Knight helped set the tone for the night early in backstopping the Miramichi Timberwolves to a 4-1 victory over the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals, who held a 21-9 shots-on-goal advantage in the opening period.

Knight started the season with the Caps and was traded to the Timberwolves on Nov. 11. The Caps acquired goaltender Chad Arsenault of St. Raphael in a trade Oct. 18 that left the team with three goaltenders.

Brandon Abbott stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Caps. The Timberwolves scored their fourth goal into an empty net.

TWO-GOAL LEAD

Before 702 fans at the Miramichi Civic Centre, the Timberwolves bounced back to outshoot the Caps 16-6 in the middle frame and take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

Daryk Dube-Plouffe, Ludovic Dufort, Zachary Duguay and Max Jardine scored for the Timberwolves, who improved to 7-6-3-1. Felix Landry (2), Jeremy Duhamel (2), William Schofield and Cole Young earned assists.

Sid McNeill netted the lone goal for the Caps, who sit atop the MHL overall standings at 12-4-0-0.

The loss marked the first time during the 2022-23 season that the Caps have lost two games in a row. Summerside, which dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 in this week’s Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) top-20 rankings, dropped a 5-2 home-ice decision to the Campbellton Tigers (11-5-0-1) on Nov. 12.

The Timberwolves killed off all five Summerside power plays. Miramichi went 0-for-1 with the man advantage.

The game’s three stars were: 1. Felix Landry (Timberwolves); 2. Max Jardine (Timberwolves); 3. Ryan Knight (Timberwolves).

The Capitals are back in action on Nov. 20 in Fredericton against the Red Wings (8-10-0-0) at 2 p.m.