Screaming Eagles Fall In Final Regular Season Game At The Moncton Coliseum
MONCTON- The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles were unable to spoil the party in a 9-3 loss at the last regular season QMJHL game ever played at the Moncton Coliseum.
It was a tentative start to the game that saw the Wildcats make the most of their chances as the Eagles actually outshot the Wildcats in the first and second periods. But Moncton would take the lead early on, with James Phelan converting a cross-ice pass and jamming it by Kevin Mandolese at the side of the net.
Moncton would add to that lead before the halfway mark of the period, with Jonathan Aspirot sprinting up the ice to score from the left side and Gabriel Sylvestre wiring a shot through traffic to give the home team a 3-0 lead. That would spell the end of the night for Kevin Mandolese who allowed three goals on seven shots.
The move may have sparked the Eagles at least temporarily as Olivier Bourret jammed home a rebound in front of the goal to get the visitors on the board. But before period’s end the Cats would counter as Jakob Pelletier would score on a breakaway.
There would be no more goals during the period and no minor penalties, but there would be a fight towards period’s end as Cape Breton’s Sacha Roy dropped the gloves with Moncton’s Brady Pataki. That was an omen of fireworks to come.
Shaun Miller would close the gap for the Screaming Eagles before the seven minute mark of the middle stanza, parting the Moncton defense and coming in alone to beat Mark Grametbauer. However the Cats would have a quick response as Pelletier converted on a two one pass from Phelan to make it 5-2.
Just after the middle period there would finally be special teams action and the Eagles would actually earn a 5 on 3 for 49 seconds, but were unable to convert. Moncton also failed to score on their first power play and it appeared it would be a 5-2 score to finish the third period.
With just five seconds to play in the second frame the Cats would pad the lead. Pelletier found Alexander Khovanov alone at the side of the net and he would hit a trailing Jeremy McKenna who zapped a shot by Jessiman to give Moncton a 6-2 edge. Things didn’t get any better early in the third period when Pataki stabbed a loose puck into the net just 14 seconds into the third period.
Cape Breton would go to back to back power plays courtesy of Anderson MacDonald, and towards the end of the second minor Eagles coach Marc-André Dumont would lift Jessiman in favour of a second attacker. Neither would score in the 6 on 5 situation but special teams would be responsible for the rest of the evening’s goals.
In succession, Roy would be whistled for high stick, Ross MacDougall would take a five minute major for boarding and Phélix Martineau would be given a double minor for high sticking. The Eagles were left short handed by two men, and Dylan Seitz and G Blackmore would both score during a 5 on 3 that lasted for over five minutes.
As the game wound down there was still history to be made, and with the visitors drawing the last power play of the game it would be Egor Sokolov jamming it by Grametbauer to finish the night’s scoring and record the final regular season goal at the Moncton Coliseum.
Grametbauer pick up the win, stopping 39 of 42 shots. Jessiman took the loss allowing six goals on 25 shots in relief.
Prior to the game there were two ceremonies at centre ice, first honouring the Wildcats’ graduating 20 year olds and another honouring players who had their numbers retired while playing for other teams at the Coliseum. The three 20 year olds were also selected as the game’s three stars.
The Screaming Eagles will now head home to finish off the QMJHL regular season with a pair of games against the Saint John Sea Dogs. Friday night’s game will be Fan Appreciation night at Centre 200, featuring rollback pricing. Tickets can be purchased at the Centre 200 box office, by phone at 902-564-2200 or online at https://tickets.capebreton.ca/Online/default.asp
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. James Phelan (Moncton) 1 goal, 1 assist, +3
2. Nicholas Welsh (Moncton) 2 assists, +2
3. Daniil Miromanov (Moncton) 1 shot
Scratches For Cape Breton: Tyler Hylland (upper body injury), Noah Laaouan, Kyle McGrath
Scratches For Moncton: Mika Cyr (upper body injury), Justin Lazure, Daniil Kuzmin, Jack Tucker
Final Shots On Goal: 42-33 in favour of Cape Breton
Cape Breton Power Play: 1/7
Moncton Power Play: 2/6
