Marchand Makes 24 Saves As Eagles Beat Titan
By: Jeremy Fraser
SYDNEY – A strong goaltending performance by Chase Marchand led the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to a 4-1 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in front of 2,237 fans on hand at Centre 200 on Friday.
Marchand, 17, made 24 saves for his first career Quebec Major Junior Hockey League win, in his QMJHL debut.
Charles-Eric Légaré, Kyle Farrell, Loic Leduc and Julien Pelletier each scored goals in the game for the Screaming Eagles, who improve to 8-9-0-2 on the season.
Patrick Walsh had the lone goal for the Titan, who fall to 6-10-1-1 on the year.
Cape Breton opened the scoring in the game as Titan defenseman Lucas Grundy turned the puck over to Charles-Eric Légaré, who made no mistake for his sixth goal of the season at 7:29 of the first period, the goal was unassisted.
The Screaming Eagles took a 2-0 lead at 15:03 of the opening frame as Kyle Farrell banged home a William Carrier rebound for his 11th goal of the season, Carrier and Cameron Darcy were given the assists on the goal.
Acadie-Bathurst pulled to within one at 3:23 of the second period as Patrick Walsh scored his first goal of the season beating Screaming Eagles goaltender Marchand, Adam Chapman had the lone helper.
Cape Breton regained the two-goal lead as Loic Leduc netted his second goal of the season beating Titan goaltender Jacob Brennan on the five-hole at 14:07 of the second frame, Farrell and Darcy were awarded with the assists.
With Acadie-Bathurst players Anthony Gingras and François Godin in the box, Julien Pelletier took advantage of the 5-on-3 power play as he buried his eighth goal of the season, Darcy and Jérémy Beaudry found the score sheet with the helpers on the goal.
Brennan turned aside 20 of 24 shots in the loss for Acadie-Bathurst, his record falls to 4-9-0-0.
The Screaming Eagles are back in action tomorrow night, Saturday, when they host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Game time is 7:00 p.m. from Centre 200. Tickets are available by contacting the Centre 200 Box Office or online at tickets.capebreton.ca.
Friday Night Game Notes:
Not in the lineup for Cape Breton: Gareth Nicholson, Francis Brunelle, Bronson Beaton, Maxim Lazarev (Lower Body) and Maxime Lagacé (Lower Body).
Not in the lineup for Acadie-Bathurst: Forwards, Nicholas Blanchard and Joey Bernard, along with defensemen Mathieu Leclerc and Alex Pisarik.
Lyle Returns To Lineup: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Michael Lyle returned to the team’s lineup on Friday. Lyle missed 13 games prior to Friday’s game with a upper-body injury. The 18-year-old had no points in his return, along with a -1 rating.
Marchand Makes ‘Q’ Debut: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles goaltender Chase Marchand made his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League debut on Friday against the Titan. The 17-year-old made 24 saves for his first career QMJHL win.
Final Shots On Goal: 25-24 in favor of Acadie-Bathurst.
Cape Breton went 1/5 on the power play, while Acadie-Bathurst went 0/7.
Three Stars:
1st – (CAP) – Chase Marchand (24 Saves)
2nd – (CAP) – Kyle Farrell (1G, 1A, 2 PTS)
3rd – (CAP) – Julien Pelletier (1G, 1 PT)
Attendance at Centre 200 on Friday night – 2,237
