Isles earn point vs. Wildcats

Charlottetown overcomes three one-goal deficits on the road to force overtime

The opening game of a homeand-home series between the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats did not disappoint.

Julius Sumpf scored on a breakaway at 3:07 of overtime to give the host Wildcats a 4-3 win on Feb. 24. The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) teams met again at Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown on Feb. 24.

The overtime loss left the Islanders with a record of 2326-4-2.

With the one point earned in against Moncton, the Islanders closed to within two points of the seventh-place Acadie-bathurst Titan (2427-3-3) in the Eastern Conference.

The Titan lost 4-1 on the road to the Cape Breton Eagles (30-23-1-2) on Feb. 24 and closed out a two-game series in Sydney, N.S., on Feb. 25 as well.

Before 4,809 fans at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., the Islanders battled back from three one-goal deficits to tie the game 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 to force overtime.

Captain Michael Horth’s 28th goal of the season at 3:52 of the third period tied the game 3-3 to force the extra five-minute session of 3-on-3 hockey.

Miles Mueller scored the first two goals for the Wildcats (32-17-4-3), who also received a goal off the stick of Caleb Desnoyers. Thomas Auger, Preston Lounsbury, Shawn Carrier, Alex Mercier and Etienne Morin added assists.

Will Allen and William Shields also scored for the Islanders.

Owen Conrad (2), Ondrej Maruna, Cole Huckins, Marcus Kearsey and Isaac Vos, who is from Sherwood, P.E.I., chipped in with assists.

Overall, the Wildcats outshot the Islanders 39-30. Jacob Steinman earned the goaltending win. Carter Bickle tended goal for the Islanders.

The Wildcats scored on their lone power-play opportunity while the Islanders did not score on four man advantages.

The game’s three stars were: 1. Caleb Desnoyers (Wildcats); 2. Michael Horth (Islanders); 3. Julius Sumpf (Wildcats).

The Islanders begin a stretch of three games in four days in Quebec against the Blainville-boisbriand Armada (24-26-4-1) on Feb. 28.