Eagles Top Volts To Open Road Trip With A Win
NOTES FROM THE GAME
– A late first period goal from Lucas Romeo gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish as they defeated the Drummondville Voltigeurs 3-1 to open a three game road trip.
– Cam Squires scored and added an assist, while Luke Patterson also scored for the Eagles and Andrew Brown notched two assists.
– Jakub Milota stopped 38 of 39 shots in the win, while Riley Mercer stopped 35 of 38 in the loss.
– With the win and Baie-Comeau’s loss in regulation, the Eagles move into a tie for fourth in the Eastern Conference, and the final home ice playoff position.
It was a fast-paced opening period, but looked like neither team would able to score despite high end chances on both sides. After the first 12 minutes were played at even strength, Drummondville failed to score on two power plays in the later stage of the period. Romeo was not long out of the penalty box when he opened the scoring. The sequence started when Brown found the puck behind the net, moved it to Squires in the right faceoff circle, and he passed it to Romeo who found the opening goal with 28 seconds to play in the period.
Both teams lit the red light once in the second stanza. Squires cashed in on from the right side of the goal after a feed from Brayden Schmitt, while Drummondville countered with a one timer blast from Ethan Gauthier. Heading to the final break the Eagles held a 2-1 lead.
Drummondville outshot Cape Breton 16-9 in the third period, but the Eagles held strong. Just prior to the eight minute mark, the Eagles were headed to the power play when Schmitt was high sticked. With Milota out for the extra attacker, Patterson ripped an insurance goal to give the Eagles a 3-1 edge.
The Volts did go to the power play in the final three minutes of the game, and at the end of the minor lifted Mercer for an extra attacker. But they were unable to score either six on four or six on five, and the Eagles skated away with a 3-1 win.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow night as they take on the Sherbrooke Phoenix! Puck drop is at 8 PM AST. The game is available for purchase on https://shorturl.at/0J5cu and you can also hear all the action on 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Jakub Milota (Cape Breton) 38 saves on 39 shots
2. Cam Squires (Cape Breton) 1 goal, 1 assist, +2
3. Riley Mercer (Drummondville) 35 saves on 38 shots
Scratches For Cape Breton: Rory Pilling, Logan Quinn, Carson Griffin, Aiden McCullough
Scratches For Drummondville: Antoine Boudreau, Vincent Tremblay, Hugo Dufour, Owen Ronson
Final Shots On Goal: 39-38 in favour of Drummondville
Cape Breton Power Play: 0/3
Drummondville Power Play: 0/4