Screaming Eagles trounce Titan thanks to third period goals
BATHURST – After getting back in the win column Wednesday night in Saint John, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan were back on home ice Friday night for another Maritime Division battle as they hosted the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
Former Titan forward Mitchell Balmas opened the scoring for Cape Breton 5:26 into the game followed by Declan Smith at 7:33 as the Eagles grabbed an early 2-0 lead. Daniil Vertiy’s fourth of the season got the Titan on the board at 14:07 assisted by William Champagne. Liam Murphy evened the score at the 16 minute mark with helpers going to Ethan Crossman and Cole Rafuse. It remained 2-2 through 20 minutes of play.
Mathias Laferriere put the Screaming Eagles back on top at 6:46 of the second period and Olivier Bourret gave them a two-goal cushion at 8:59. Declan Smith’s second of the night made it 5-2 at 10:56. Marc-Andre LeCouffe got one back for the home side with his eighth of the season at 16:24 to make it 5-3 after two periods. Evan MacKinnon and Michal Ivan got the assists. Ethan Crossman made it a one-goal game 2:18 into the third period with a powerplay marker assisted by Keenan MacIsaac and Marc-Andre LeCouffe. However, that was as close as the Titan would get.
The Screaming Eagles ran away with it later in the period as Alex Drover netted a pair and Laferriere added his second of the night to lift them to an 8-4 win.
