RECAP | Isles drop game one 4-1 to Drakkar | Trail 1-0 in series
By Kyle Cotton
Baie-Comeau, QE – The Charlottetown Islanders fall to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-1 in game one of their best-of-seven series at the Centre Harvey-Leonard Friday night.
The Drakkar now lead the series 1-0 after a dominant performance on home-ice.
Carter Bickle got the not in game one of the series, stopping 40 shots in the loss.
Islanders’ captain Michael Horth ended up leaving the game in the second period after being hit into the corner.
Bickle stops 16 in the first, Drakkar up 1-0
Angus Booth recorded the games first shot, giving the Drakkar pressure right after puck drop.
Will Allen took the games first penalty after being called for tripping three minutes in.
The Drakkar’s offence proved to be too much for the Islanders. Just as the penalty expired, Jules Boilard scored the first goal of the series, giving the Drakkar a 1-0 lead in game one.
Less than a minute later, Baie-Comeau went back to the power play after Simon Hughes was called for holding.
The penalty kill unit was strong though, holding them to just one shot that Bickle handled well.
Then, after Hughes came out of the box, he recorded the first shot of the game for the Isles, but Charles-Édward Gravel made a clean pad save.
With just under five minutes to go in the opening frame, Ross Campbell found himself receiving a five-minute major penalty and a game-misconduct for a cross-check up high on a Drakkar skater.
Despite being down a man, Cole Huckins was able to draw a penalty making it four-on-four to end the first period.
Huckins has experience in the playoffs and knows what needs to continue into game two.
“I think it was nice to get the jitters out. But I think getting 13 penalty minutes in the first period is a hard welcome to the playoffs. Now it’s back to war for game two.”
3-goal-period for Baie-Comeau | 4-1 after two
Justin Gill and Marcus Kearsey exchanged shots on either goaltender to open the second period as four-on-four play came to an end.
Charlottetown was given their first chance on the power play soon after as Isaac Dufort was called for interference, but the Drakkar killed the penalty.
Chaos ensued not long after. A scrum led to Hughes, Will Shields, Anthony Lavoie and Louis-Charles Plourde all going to the penalty box.
While still at event strength, the game got more gritty after a whistle. Allen and Alexis Mathieu received roughing penalties to initiate more four-on-four play.
Baie-Comeau was the one who capitalised with the extra space on the ice. Dufort found a way to get it through Bickle to double their lead.
Then, not long after, the regular-season goal-scoring champion, Justin Poirier danced through the defence and beat Bickle with a back-hand shot to extend their lead to 3-0.
Alexis Michaud got one back for the Isles. Giovanni Morneau knocked the puck down behind the net and he fed it to a wide open Michaud two feet in front of the net who pocketed the Isles first of the postseason. Kyle Powers assisted as well.
Baie-Comeau restored their three-goal lead soon after though.
Gill fired a shot six seconds into a power play that picked a corner over Bickle.
The Drakkar led 4-1 going into the third period.
Drakkar hold lead for the win
Powers got the first shot of the final stanza but Gravel was there to turn it aside.
Dufort, Poirier and Zachary Lessard tested Bickle in response, but Bickle continued to play well, turning them aside.
Boilard then thought he scored his second of the night but it was determined that there was goaltender interference after Dufort tripped Bickle with his skate as he skated through the crease.
Anton Topilnyckyj and Félix Gagnon then each received penalties to initiate four-on-four again.
Just over a minute later, Huckins and Poirer started getting rough with each other. After the play, Poirer took Huckins down in retaliation after a cross-check. Huckins was called for two minutes but Poirier was penalised for four minutes for roughing.
The Islanders couldn’t get much going on the four-on-three power play, but Bickle made a great stop on a Baie-Comeau breakaway.
Alexis Bernier took another penalty late to give Charlottetown one more chance on the man advantage. Shields, Hughes and Kearsey fired shots on Gravel, but he stood tall in goal.
The Drakkar held their 4-1 lead all the way to the final buzzer and outshot the Isles by a total of 44-15.
Head coach Jim Hulton showed optimism post-game despite the loss.
“I saw some growth even in this game. I thought we had some push in the third period tonight,” he said. “Credit to them, they’re a real good team but I think we were our own worst enemy tonight.”
Game two is tomorrow night in Baie-Comeau. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. AST and 4 p.m. EST.