Eagles Top Sea Dogs In First Of Two Game Set
NOTES FROM THE GAME
– Two goal games from Romain Litalien & Joey Henneberry helped lead the the Cape Breton Eagles to a 6-3 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs Saturday night at Centre 200.
– Brayden Schmitt scored and added an assist for the Eagles, while Tomas Lavoie also scored and Andrew Brown was +3 in the win.
– Jakub Milota stopped 38 of 41 shots in the win, while Eric Young stopped 40 of 46 shots in the loss.
Scoring chances were not hard to come by in the opening period, with the Eagles outshooting Saint John 17-13, but there were no goals in the opening 13 minutes despite an early Saint John power play. It was the home side making the breakthrough- with two goals 55 seconds apart.
After some strong work from the Eagles fourth line, Schmitt kept the puck in the zone and blasted it by Young for the opening goal. The second Eagle marker came when Aiden McCullough moved up the left the wing and fed a pass to Litalien in the blue paint, and he made it a 2-0 game.
Ltalien had some bad luck three minutes later, as his pass attempt was intercepted by Tyler Peddle who raced it on a breakaway to put the visitors on the board. The period finished with a 2-1 Cape Breton score.
Henneberry’s first of the night came in the opening five minutes, redirecting a pass by Jacob Newcombe to add to the lead for the home side. With under five minutes to play in the middle stanza, Lavoie scored the eventual game winner and it was a highlight reel goal- taking the puck off of a faceoff win from Lewis Gendron, parting the defense and deking around Young to make it 4-1.
The Eagles had the chance to produce a dagger when they went to their first full length power play of the game, but instead it was Zachary Morin producing his own nifty goal to reduce the lead to 4-2. Saint John killed the remainder of the penalty and it was a two goal game at the break.
Saint John kept that momentum going early in the third period as Olivier Groulx scored just 42 seconds in to create a one goal game. That momentum was halted when Benjamin Amyot was sent to the penalty box, and this time, the Eagles would convert, with Litalien tipping a Schmitt shot by Young.
The Sea Dogs pressed to get closer in the final five minutes, and outshot the Eagles in the third period 13-10. But it was Henneberry who produced a key insurance goal, capitalizing on a turnover near the blueline, speeding up to put the shot over Young’s shoulder and finishing the scoring.
The rematch between these two teams goes tomorrow afternoon 3 PM- it’s the final visit of the season from the Sea Dogs and the final afternoon home game of the regular season for the Eagles.
You can purchase tickets online at https://shorturl.at/8W9eS. Tickets are also available for purchase in person at the Centre 200 box office and by the phone during box office hours at 902-564-2200
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1.Romain Litalien (Cape Breton) 2 goals, +1
2. Brayden Schmitt (Cape Breton) 1 goal, 1 assist, +1
3. Joey Henneberry (Cape Breton) 2 goals
Scratches For Cape Breton: Will Murphy (injury), Nathan Plouffe,Carson Griffin
Scratches For Saint John: Dylan Krayer (injury), Darien Reynolds (injury), Justin Robinson (injury), Matthew MacLean, Julien Bonnet
Final Shots On Goal: 46-41 in favour of Cape Breton
Cape Breton Power Play: 1/3
Saint John Power Play: 0/3
