Islanders beat Quebec in a shootout
It took a shootout but the Islanders came away from Quebec with the 3-2 victory.
Despite being pulled Friday night against Blainville-Boisbriand, Matt Welsh got the start in net for the Islanders. Remparts netminder Dereck Baribeau got the start for his team.
Both teams came out of the gates firing, combining for 27 shots in the opening period.
In the final minute of the first period, the Isles got on the board.
After a Saku Vesterinen point shot made its way through traffic, Keith Getson got his stick on the rebound, scoring his 11th of the season, and opening the scoring for the Isles.
In the second period the the Isles added to their lead on a goal from Charlottetown native, Thomas Casey, who banked a shot off the skate of defensemen Benjamin Gagne from behind the net.
Just over a minute later Islanders forward Pascal Aquin got into it with Quebec defencemen Andrew Picco. The two soon dropped the gloves, with each delivering their fair share of shots before the refs stepped in.
At the end of two periods the Isles led 2-0, outshooting the Remparts 26-24.
The Islanders had taken five minor penalties through two periods and they added to that total in the third.
At 7:35 of the the third period, following a Hunter Drew hooking penalty, Quebec’s Luke Kirwan was able to score on the power play to cut the Isles lead in half.
Less than 10 minutes later, the Remparts stuck again on the power play, this time on a shot from forward Olivier Mathieu.
With the game now tied, the pressure began to mount.
With 1:48 remaining, Islanders forward Gregor MacLeod appeared to score the go ahead goal, but the deflection was quickly waved off by the official behind the net.
As the clock was winding down, Nikita Alexandrov received a questionable tripping penalty sending the Remparts to the man-advantage.
Quebec was unable to make use of the power play before the end of the period, but entered overtime with just over a minute of power play time.
In the extra frame the Isles were able to kill off the penalty with neither able to capitalize on their opportunities.
With 56 seconds remaining in overtime, Quebec’s Jesse Sutton drove to the net for a great scoring chance forcing Sam King to take a penalty.
On the power play the Remparts were unable to get their offence organized, and the buzzer soon sounded sending the game into a shootout.
Quebec’s first shooter Derek Gentile was stopped easily by Welsh, sending Charlottetown’s first shooter, Sam King, to centre ice.
King worked his way down ice, beating Baribeau between the legs to give the Isles the early advantage.
The Remparts second shooter, Jérémy Laframboise was stopped as well, meaning Sullivan Sparkes had a chance to win the game for the Isles. With a head-fake and a quick move to the backhand Sparkes was able to beat Baribeau to win the game for the Islanders.
The Islanders have one more game on their Quebec road-trip, stopping in Shawinigan Sunday evening for a matchup with the Cataractes. Puck drop for that one is set for 5pm and you can follow the action live with Fair Isle Ford Isles Radio.