January 7th, 2010
Slow start costs Eagles
SYDNEY — A pair of former Cape Breton Screaming Eagles came back to haunt their former team at Centre 200, Wednesday.
Nicolas Chouinard scored the eventual game winner and chipped in two helpers, while Jérémy Gouchie had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Juniors posted a 4-1 win. It was the second straight loss for the Eagles, who fell to 24-14-2-3 on the season.
What made things worse for the Eagles was that the Moncton Wildcats (26-11-1-3) increased their second-place lead in the Atlantic Division standings to three points with a 5-3 win Wednesday night over the Saint John Sea Dogs.
“They outskated us all game long,” said Screaming Eagles head coach and general manager Mario Durocher. “When we were skating a bit, we were in the game. But it looked like our minds weren’t there. It reminded me of the team at the beginning of the season at one point. We looked like a peewee team almost.”
A slow start by Cape Breton proved costly for the home side. First period goals from Montreal’s Trevor Parks at 7:26 and Chouinard’s tally at 9:37 forced Durocher to call a time out to regroup. The plan worked somewhat, as Brad Cuzner got his club within a goal by going five-hole on starter Jean-Francois Bérubé at 13:02.
But the dagger came in the second with two more tallies from the Juniors. A pair of point shots from David Stich and Gouchie eluded Olivier Roy to pad the visitors lead.
“It’s a special place to play in Cape Breton and it’s a special organization,” said Juniors head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent, who posted his first win against his former team. “Coming back here was special for (Chouinard and Gouchie) and they wanted to play a big game and the guys wanted to support them.
“We have a young team, but we’re progressing in the right direction. It takes a while to become a contender and I think we’re on the right track.”
Bérubé improved his record to 7-9 with the win, making 34 stops. Roy fell to 18-14 with the loss after making 31 saves.
The Eagles hit the road for a pair of games this weekend. They face the Sea Dogs Friday and the Halifax Mooseheads, Saturday. They return home for the first of back-to-back home games Wednesday against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Thursday against the P.E.I. Rocket.
NOTES: Forward Maxime Legault left the game with a lower body injury in the second period and did not return. Durocher said early estimates have him out for two weeks…Stephen Horyl (upper body) is still listed as day-to-day.
tjcolello@cbpost.com
