Sea Dogs force OT but Kielly scores game winner
Late penalties meant they had to do it in overtime, but the Islanders earned a 4-3 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon.
The Isles were up 3-1 with 4 minutes left on the clock, but the Sea Dogs found their way back with a pair of power play goals to send it to the extra frame.
A 4-on-3 power play in overtime saw Kameron Kielly score the game-winner, ending a five-game win streak for the Sea Dogs.
“It was a big character weekend for our group,” said Kielly. “Two tough games and four big points for us.”
It’s just the second win of the season for the Islanders over Saint John, making the two points even better.
“It was huge for our confidence,” said goaltender Matt Welsh. “We took a couple penalties and let them get back in it but the way we responded to that, I think we showed our hockey club’s resilience.”
Brad Kennedy had the lone goal of the first period to open the scoring as he ripped one past Marc-Antoine Turcotte with a little over a minute left in the first.
After a scoreless second, the Sea Dogs game out of the dressing room determined in the third and tied things up just 22 seconds in with a goal from Matt Murphy.
Midway through the third, with Pierre-Olivier Joseph in the box, the Sea Dogs looked to get the go-ahead goal, but it was the Islanders who capitalized with a shorthanded goal from Samuel Blais to make it 2-1.
Kielly scored his first of the game a few minutes later to increase the lead off a pass from Kennedy.
But then, instead of putting the game away, the Islanders ran into penalty trouble with a few minutes left to play. Luc Deschenes went to the box at 16:10 and Daniel Del Paggio took advantage just 16 seconds into the penalty.
Then, the Isles found themselves down two men with Kennedy and Deschenes both in the box not long after. Sam Povorozniouk put one in the back of the net at 17:55 on the 5-on-3, but the Islanders killed the remaining penalty as regulation wound down.
In overtime, the Islanders outshot the Sea Dogs 9-0 before Kielly buried the puck past Turcotte to give the Isles the extra point.
“We were buzzing around in the overtime period, just watin for our opportunity to bury one,” said Kielly. “Brad (Kennedy) made a great pass to me and I was fortunate enough to bury it.”
The win came in front of another packed house at the Eastlink Centre, which Welsh said was great to see.
“It’s been great this weekend. I don’t think I’ve heard the Eastlink Centre that loud. It was pretty exciting to see it like that.”
