PREVIEW | Isles kick off home-stand hosting Titan
By Kyle Cotton
The Charlottetown Islanders host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan one final time tonight as the 2023-24 regular season inches closer to its end.
Islanders report (25-33-5-2)
The Isles are coming off of an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Saint John Sea Dogs. Charlottetown snapped their seven game losing streak just the night before but couldn’t garner a second straight win.
Although there won’t be any relief on the injury front tonight, defenceman Carl-Etienne Michel is expected to return to action this weekend against Cape Breton. Anton Topilnyckyj and Giovanni Morneau are still expected to be sidelined until at least game one of the playoffs against Baie-Comeau.
Carter Bickle will start tonight in goal. Bickle will be looking to bounce back after his performance on Sunday. He has a record of 15 wins and 24 losses with an .886 save percentage and a 3.63 goals against average.
Rookie forward Kevin Walker has had to step into a defensive role due to the recent injuries on the back-end. Walker has slotted in near seamlessly.
“You can’t say enough about the contributions of Kevin Walker. A first year forward on this team who suddenly fills in 14-15 minutes a night on the back-end,” Head coach Jim Hulton said.
Walker was paired with Max Jardine in the home-and-home series against the Saint John Sea Dogs. He is likely to continue playing with the defensively sound Jardine tonight against the Titan.
Alexis Michaud, who is in his second year with the team, now sits just one point back of 40 on the year. His playmaking abilities have shown recently with two assists in his last game and five since the start of March. Michaud will be hungry to reach the 40-point plateau for the first time in his career.
Cole Huckins is now one point back from his 200th of his career. Huckins has been pushing to get to that mark as he’s been point-per-game since the start of the month. He will be more motivated to get that 200th point against Bathurst as it was the team that drafted him.
Leading scorers
Michael Horth | 31-18-49 |
Marcus Kearsey | 7-41-48 |
Cole Huckins | 19-26-45 |
Power play – 46/209 (22.01%)
Penalty kill – 54/200 (73%)
Goals for – 195
Goals against – 257
Titan report (29-29-3-4)
Bathurst have been the losers of their last two games, most recently losing to the Cape Breton Eagles 8-6 in Bathurst on March 16. The Titan are 5-3-0-2 (wins-losses-overtime losses-shootout losses) in their last ten games.
Defenceman Emile Perron was named second star in their loss to the Eagles. He recorded a goal and two assists in their six goal effort. Perron has just three points (1g/2a) in eight games so far this season against the Islanders.
The last time these two teams played, Dylan Andrews was a +3 while scoring two goals and two assists. The Islanders will need to shut Andrews down this time at home.
Leading scorers
Robert Orr | 24-57-81 |
Milo Roelens | 27-43-70 |
Colby Huggan | 25-35-60 |
Power play – 34/198 (17.17%)
Penalty kill – 61/245 (75.1%)
Goals for – 213
Goals against – 225
Final notes – The Islanders have just two home games left after tonight. Both games are against the Cape Breton Eagles on Friday, March 22 and Saturday March 23.
Playoff ticket packages are on sale now. More information is here. Ticket packages can be purchased by calling the Eastlink Centre box office at (902) 629-6625. Single game tickets can be purchased here starting March 25.
Puck drop tonight at the Eastlink Centre is at 7 p.m.