Four-point opening day for Wild
Kensington wins in regulation, loses in OT against N.S. teams
The Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild earned four points on Day 1 of play at the Atlantic major under-18 male hockey championship on April 4.
The Wild opened with a 3-2 win over the Nova Scotia-champion Halifax McDonalds, and then lost to the host team, Steele Subaru of Dartmouth, N.S., 2-1 in overtime in their second game of the day.
Teams earn three points for a regulation-time win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss.
The Wild closes out the round-robin schedule at the East Hants Sportsplex in Lantz, N.S., with a game against the New Brunswick champion Moncton Fly er sat 4 p.m., on April 5 and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Pinnacle Growlers on April 6 at 9 a.m.
The top two teams after the round robin advance to the championship game on April 7.
The five-team regional championship will determine Atlantic Canada’s representative at the Telus Cup Canadian under-18 hockey championship in Membertou, N.S., from April 22 to 28.
SUBARU 2 WILD 1 (OT)
Tristan LeBlanc scored at 4:20 of overtime to give the Subaru the extra point.
Wild defenceman Eddy Doyle, who was set up by Ethan Dickson, scored with one minute remaining regulation time to tie the game and force overtime.
Jake Prince’s power-play goal late in the second period opened the game’s scoring for the host team.
Winning goaltender Brandon Lavoie stopped 21 of 22 shots. Wild goaltender George Gallant stopped 29 of 31 shots.
WILD 3 MCDONALDS 2
The Wild built 2-0 and 3-1 leads en route to the one-goal victory over Halifax McDonalds.
Dickson, the most valuable player and top point-getter in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Under-18 Hockey League, contributed a goal and an assist to lead Kensington’s offence.
Jordan Shaw and Liam Arsenault also scored. Arsenault’s goal with 15:33 remaining in the third made it a 3-1 game and proved to be the game-winner.
Derek Andrews, Michael Arsenault, Cam Taylor and Mason Cook chipped in with helpers for the Wild, who took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 into the intermissions.
Gallant, the most valuable player of the provincial playoff series against the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Knights, turned in a 30-save performance to earn the win.
The Wild outshot Halifax 38-32. Nathan Mills handled the goaltending duties for the McDonalds.
Maddix Marmulak (1-1) and Daniel Waters scored for Halifax.