Eagles Host Drakkar As Series Shift To Centre 200 For Game Three
The Cape Breton Eagles have landed home and there will be a big crowd on hand at Centre 200 for the biggest game of the season to date. It’s game three of the first round of the QMJHL playoffs, and the Eagles are hoping to turn the tide on home ice as they trail the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 2-0 in the series.
Baie-Comeau’s starting goaltender Lucas Beckman was the biggest story in the opening weekend of the series, stopping 69 of 72 shots. The Eagles elected to start Alexis Cournoyer after he posted an eye popping 942 save percentage in the second half- he stopped 45 of 52 shots in the first two games.
Both Eagles coach Louis Robitaille & Drakkar coach Jean-François Grégoire tinkered with their lines in game two as leading scorers Cam Squires (Cape Breton) & Matyas Melovsky (Baie-Comeau) were held pointless in the opening weekend. Meanwhile, Skogen Schrott, who scored two goals in 26 regular season games, scored three times in the opening weekend of the series while third liner Evan Courtois collected three points. For the Eagles, Andrew Brown has recorded three points on the backend. Penalty killing has been a strength for both teams, with each side limited to a single power play goal in the first two games.
While the Eagles were ultimately eliminated by Baie-Comeau last season, they can perhaps draw short term inspiration from last year’s series, in which the Eagles won game 3 at home after losing the first two in Baie-Comeau. And the Eagles have come back from 2-0 before: in 2019, the last time the Eagles were the fifth seed against a fourth seed in the East, the Eagles dropped the first two games in Charlottetown before winning four straight to capture the series. This time around, the Eagles will be on home ice tonight, Wednesday, and Friday if necessary.
Here’s what else you need to know ahead of tonight’s game!
BUY TICKETS: https://shorturl.at/MgEzc
50/50: https://rafflebox.ca/raffle/cbeagles
Venue: Centre 200, Sydney, NS
Puck drop: 7 PM AST
Web coverage: https://watch.chl.ca
Radio Coverage: 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com
Twitter: @cbehockey
Live stats: https://chl.ca/lhjmq-eagles/gamecentre/31788/
| BAIE-COMEAU | CAPE BRETON | |
| 4th Eastern Conference, 36-23-4-1 (Away: 16-12-3-1) | REGULAR SEASON RECORD | 5th Eastern Conference, 34-23-4-3 (Home: 18-12-1-1) |
| 236GF/186GA | GOALS FOR/GOALS AGAINST | 212GF/195GA |
| 8 | GOALS THIS SERIES | 3 |
| Matyas Melovsky, 83 points in 57 games | LEADING SCORER (REGULAR SEASON) | Cam Squires (75 points in 58 games) |
| Skogen Schrott (3) | LEADING GOAL SCORER (THIS SERIES) | Andrew Brown (2) |
| 1/6 | POWER PLAY THIS SERIES | 1/8 |
| 2nd, 27.6%, Away: 3rd, 27.1% | REGULAR SEASON POWER PLAY | 9th, 21.8% Home: 10th, 22.5% |
| 2nd, 84% Away: 2nd, 84.4% | REGULAR SEASON PENALTY KILL | 3rd, 82.1% Home: 6th, 82.5% |
| Alexis Bernier, Justin Poirier, Drew Allison, Alexis Michaud | iNJURY REPORT (PRIOR GAME) | Nathan Plouffe, Lucas Romeo |
