Home Opener ends in a loss after tough battle with Moncton
Charlottetown, PE — The Islanders Home Opener was fought in front of a packed house at the Eastlink Centre.
Honourary Head Coach, Maverick Bishop, made his debut back on the bench after heart surgery January 30th earlier this year, getting a moment in front of the crowd ahead of puck drop Friday night.
Donald Hickey gets the nod to start his 3rd season with Islanders, going head to head against Monctons’ Yegor Rybkin.
The game started very physical with lots of back and forth action. Hickey had to be sharp early making multiple big saves, the Wildcats also rang 3 shots off the iron. Big hits from both teams set the tone for the game. A scrum left both teams playing 4-on-4 early. Wildcats Yegor Rybkin stayed solid stopping a couple of odd man rushes. Monctons’ Christopher Baird-Gajdos took a penalty giving the Islanders their first powerplay of the year with just over 3 minutes left in the period. They were unable to put one past Rybkin leaving the score 0-0.
The second 20 started with an Islanders powerplay. Shortly after, the Islanders Artyom Mate took a roughing penalty, but the penalty kill looked strong and managed to kill off the 2 minutes. After a great move in the high slot by Matthew Butler, the newly appointed assistant captain found Antoine Boudreau down low in front of the net who backhanded it over the sprawling Rybkin for the Islanders first goal of the year.
When it rains it pours…Islanders other assistant captain, Anthony Flanagan, sent a cross ice pass finding the stick of KJ Eccleston who made no mistake and puts the Islanders up 2-0. Moncton finally responded taking advantage of a rough Charlottetown error leaving Liam Kilfoil wide open in the slot putting one past Hickey on his high blocker side to cut the lead in half. Monctons Myles Brosnan followed it up scoring through traffic to make it 2-2.
Monctons kept the goal scoring momentum going in the third. Scoring two back-to-back early on. After a couple action packed minutes, Islanders Leonards Aleksandrs Grundmanis put a puck on net that tips off of Antoine Provencher to find its way into the back of the net cutting the lead to one. The Islanders pulled their goalie with a minute left and were putting on lots of pressure, but were unable to tie the game ultimately leading to an Islanders 4-3 loss. It was a very even game with the Islanders outshooting the wildcats 37-30.
The Islanders now turn their focus to Sunday, September 20th, when they hit the road for the first time this season to face the Cape Breton Eagles. Season Tickets and 15-Game Packs for the 2026-27 season are on sale now. Fans can secure their seats for an exciting new era of Islanders hockey by purchasing online or visiting the Eastlink Centre Box Office.
