Eagles Return To Home Ice To Host Charlottetown

For the first time in two weeks, the Cape Breton Eagles are back on ice as they host the Charlottetown Islanders.

Charlottetown continues to lead the league with an impressive 22-4 record (11-2 on the road). The Eagles are in 15th in the league (sixth in the Maritime Division) at 11-16-1 (5-9-1 at home). Tonight’s contest is a battle of the league’s top two power plays, with Charlottetown’s ranking first at 30.1% while Cape Breton is holding at 24.1%. (Despite player absences the Eagles have scored power play goals in four straight games.)

For the Islanders, the top line has terrorized opposition all season. Cédric Desruisseaux and Thomas Casey are tied for the league lead in points with 53, a full 15 points ahead of Blainville-Boisbriand’s Luke Henman. Desruisseaux has only been held pointless once this season (at Centre 200) while Casey has recorded points in 24 of 26 games. Their linemate, captain Brett Budgell, is also on a nine game point streak.

Dawson Stairs continues to drive the offense for the Eagles following a two goal game in Halifax on Thursday night. (His linemate Émile Hegarty-Aubin also had three points.) It was not goal scoring but goals against that was the issue in an 11-4 loss. The Eagles have not had a fully healthy defense core since February 7th, with captain Jarrett Baker and Jérémy Langlois being key absences in recent weeks.

This evening marks the tenth meeting between the two sides, with Charlottetown winning seven of the nine meetings (including four of five in Sydney.). It’s the first of three consecutive meetings between the teams as they will play Tuesday & Wednesday on PEI.

Tonight’s game begins at 7 PM. There is now limited availability to purchase tickets for Eagles home games- full details can be found at https://bit.ly/3jmSmML. The game will be broadcast on Eastlink Television and you can also hear all the action beginning with the pre-game show with Patrick McNeil at 6:30 PM on 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com