PREVIEW | Isles and Sea Dogs weekend home-and-home
By Kyle Cotton
The Charlottetown Islanders and the Saint John Sea Dogs face-off with a home-and-home battle this weekend.
The first game will be tonight in Charlottetown while the second will be tomorrow, March 17, at TD Station in Saint John, NB.
Islanders report (24-32-5-2)
The Isles have struggled as of late, losing seven straight games dating back to Feb. 28. In both of their last two games, they were down to just four defencemen as Anton Topilnyckyj, Isaac Vos and Carl-Etienne Michel were all out of the lineup due to injury.
Vos will return to the lineup tonight but Michel and Topilnyckyj will remain out. Giovanni Morneau will also not be returning as he is still out with a lower-body injury.
Both Carter Bickle (15-24) (wins-losses) and Aksels Ozols (9-15) have been solid as of late despite the Isles losing skid.
Bickle has an .888 save percentage and a 3.57 goals against average through 41 appearances this season. Ozols, who was strong in his most recent loss to Moncton, has a 3.95 GAA and an .873 SV%. Ozols will start on Saturday at home.
Max Jardine has stepped up when he has needed to since the injury bug hit the Isles’ blueline. He looks like he is starting to find his offensive stride as he’s shooting the puck more from the back end. It’s only a matter of time before he nets his first goal in the Q.
Will Allen, who was also Jardine’s teammate with the Maritimes Hockey League’s Miramichi Timberwolves, has put his offensive ability on full display. Allen opened the scoring for the Islanders on Thursday in Halifax with a great shot from distance. He has five goals, three assists for eight points since joining the team.
P.E.I native Ross Campbell just hit the 30-point mark for the first time in his career with an assist against the Mooseheads on Thursday. Campbell has been helping to drive plays up the ice consistently over the last few games so don’t be surprised if he starts to produce at a higher rate.
Leading scorers
| Michael Horth | 31-17-48 |
| Marcus Kearsey | 7-39-46 |
| Cole Huckins | 18-24-42 |
Power play – 43/202 (21.29%)
Penalty kill – 53/195 (72.82%)
Goals for – 185
Goals against – 247
Sea Dogs report (18-37-5-3)
Saint John is coming off of a 2-1 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. That win was to snap an eight game losing streak.
Goaltender Patrick Leaver led the way for their most recent win, stopping 31 of 32 shots in the win. Leaver currently has an .880 SV% and a 4.29 GAA. Leaver has shown he can stop the Isles offence as well this season.
Since coming over from the Halifax Mooseheads, Brody Fournier has been a top producer for the Sea Dogs. In 30 games he has eight goals, nine assists for 17 points. Fournier had an assist in the win over Bathurst. The team’s leading scorer will be more motivated to score as Saint John continues to push for the last playoff spot available.
Matteo Mann made his presence known in the win over the TItan. He returned from a suspension the right way, with a win. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect has five goals, six assists for 11 points in 37 games.
Leading scorers
| Brody Fournier | 21-22-43 |
| Eriks Mateiko | 22-20-42 |
| Pavel Simek | 28-28-36 |
Power play – 37/211 (17.54%)
Penalty kill – 59/233 (74.68%)
Goals for – 163
Goals against – 268
Final notes – Cole Huckins now sits just four points back of the 200 career point mark with five regular season games left.
The Islanders hold the season series lead five games to two. Sunday marks the final time these two teams will meet this season.
Puck drop at the Eastlink Centre tonight is at 7 p.m., while puck drop on Sunday at TD Station is at 3 p.m.
