Stunning Late Rally Gives Eagles 5-4 Win In Baie-Comeau
NOTES FROM THE GAME
– Charles Boutin’s power play goal with 54 seconds left gives the Eagles a 5-4 victory in Baie-Comeau
– Eagles rally from scores of 2-0 & 4-2, including three goals in the final five minutes to the secure the victory
– Olivier Houde’s third assist of the night set up the winning goal
– Eagles defenseman Trevor Thurston left game in the first period with an upper body injury, did not return
An evenly played first period was disrupted when Matyas Melovsky opened the scoring at the nine minute mark on a delay penalty, and fellow import Niks Fenenko buried a pass from behind the net from Maël Lavigne to make it 2-0 before period’s end.
Before the second period was two minutes old, it was a tie game. Will Shields started the comeback, batting a puck down into the net as it came down on the right side of the goal. Cam Squires thought he had tied the game with a high shot that hit the crossbar. Just seconds after Squires appealed to have it called a goal, the puck came back to the Eagles forward and he wired it into the open net.
After the first period was played entirely five on five, both teams failed to capitalize on power plays in the middle part of the second period. Baie-Comeau pulled ahead late in the midde stanza when Félix Gagnon tipped an Isaac Dufort point shot by Eagle keeper Oliver Satny.
The Eagles first big chance to tie the game in the third period backfired, as with the Eagles on the power play, a Satny clearing attempt was batted out of the air by Melovsky who ripped it into the open goal to push the lead to 4-2.
Now trailing by two goals with under five minutes to play, the Eagles had another power play incoming. With a delayed penalty coming on Baie-Comeau, Conor Shortall ripped it through heavy traffic to pull the Eagles within one at the 15:18 mark. Just 27 seconds later, Angelo Fullerton’s rush up the right wing was denied by Olivier Ciarlo, but the rebound was buried by Ivan Ivan to tie the game.
The game winning goal came when Charles-Thomas Larochelle put the puck over the glass with 1:42 remaining in regulation. After some pressure by the Eagles, Houde wired a cross ice pass to Boutin who pushed the winning goal by Ciarlo.
Due to continued Eagles pressure, the Drakkar weren’t able to pull their goaltender until there was 21 seconds left on the clock. The attempt to tie the game was unsuccessful and the Eagles picked up the win.
Satny stopped 33 of 37 shots in the win, while Ciarlo allowed five goals on 27 shots in the loss.
The Eagles will now finish the road trip tomorrow afternoon in Chicoutimi against the Saguenéens. Puck drop is 5 PM Atlantic time. The game is available for purchase online at https://bit.ly/3V2CvGI. You can also hear all the action beginning with the pre-game show with Patrick McNeil at 4:30 PM on 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Matyas Melovsky (Baie-Comeau) 2 goals, 5 shots
2. Xavier Fortin (Baie-Comeau) 1 assist, 5 shots, won 13 of 19 faceoffs
3. Jérémy Langlois (Cape Breton) 2 assists, +2
Scratches For Cape Breton: FJ Buteau (upper body injury), Luke Patterson (upper body injury), Alex Campbell, Preston Pattengale, Gio DiMattia
Scratches For Baie-Comeau: Matthew MacDonald (lower body injury), Andrew Doucet (injury), Marshall Lessard (injury), Tristan Dassylva
Final Shots On Goal: 37-27 in favour of Baie-Comeau
Cape Breton Power Play: 1/3
Baie-Comeau Power Play: 0/1
