Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

The Eagles had a balanced attack in the game, as six different players found the back of the net. It started with Ashton Bernard, who netted his first as an Eagle. Max Le Sieur followed with his third of the season to give the home side a 2-0 advantage into the intermission.

“That was part of our game plan, to apply a lot of pressure on them,” said Eagles head coach and general manager Mario Durocher. “We didn’t want them to get the lead. They like to collapse a lot when they get the lead and that’s their kind of game, then we would have got frustrated, so we didn’t want to be in that position. I thought the guys did a pretty good job of that. “Our forechecking was the key tonight.”

Eric Faille struck on the power play for the Titan to cut the lead to one in the second, but goals by Stephen Horyl and Viktor Hertzberg in the frame regained their control of the contest. Hertzberg’s goal at 5:49 chased Titan starter Nicholas Champion from the crease.

Nick MacNeil and Marc Bourgeois scored on the power play and short-handed, respectively, in the third. Derek Famulare replied for the visitors, but it was too little, too late.

“The power play, we scored early in the third period, but we had full control,” said Durocher. “The penalty kill did a good job too, we protected (goaltender Chris Holden) pretty well, there was nothing dangerous on their part, so we played a good defensive game.”

Luke Adam and Francis Meilleur recorded three assists apiece for the Eagles. Adam extended his point streak to eight games.

Cape Breton went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Bathurst was 1-for-7.

In goal, Chris Holden improved his record to 5-3-0 after making 17 saves. Champion was tagged with the loss and fell to 6-11-0 after allowing four goals on 11 shots. Guillaume Nadeau stopped 23 shots in relief.

The Eagles challenge the Val-d’Or Foreurs Sunday at Centre 200, beginning at 4 p.m., but their next five games are on the road. They play three games in three nights from Nov. 12-14 in Gatineau, Val-d’Or and Rouyn-Noranda and again Nov. 21-22 in Bathurst and Moncton.

NOTES: Durocher said Michael Ward (shoulder) will be out two to three weeks. His progress will be re-assessed after their stint on the road. Patrick Lapostolle (leg) is listed as day-to-day, but won’t be available for Sunday’s contest.