January 12th, 2008
Powerful power play leads Eagles to win over Titan
Special teams were something special indeed for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Friday. Cape Breton went 4-for-6 with the man advantage, including a pair of goals by defenceman Alex Lamontagne, as they skated to a 5-2 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Centre 200.
“We had good chances and good passes and (Dean Ouellet) was making good screens, so we just put the puck on the net and what happened, happened,” said Lamontagne, who scored his fifth and sixth goals of the year respectively while adding an assist.
“It’s been a while since I had a few points, so I was pretty happy. But the main thing is the win at home. It was a pretty good night.”
The penalty kill was also key for the Screaming Eagles, as they stymied the Titan on three power-play opportunities. Entering the game, Acadie-Bathurst had the top power play in the league, firing at 23 percent.
Chris Culligan, Nick MacNeil and newcomer Vincent Lavigueur also struck for Cape Breton, who rebounded from a 5-2 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads, Wednesday. The Screaming Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the first period on three, power-play goals and never looked back.
“We saw the stats and wanted to try and capitalize on that,” said Lamontagne. “We knew for sure they weren’t the best on the penalty kill, so we had to take the chances that we got.”
Head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent said he and the coaching staff worked on the power play with his team at practice, Thursday, in preparation for tonight’s contest.
“The guys really moved the puck well and we took good shots,” he said. “The puck movement, the timing and the support was there.
“We spoke a bit about their special teams but overall, we played a solid 60 minutes. We skated well and supported each other, made smart decisions with the puck and managing the puck, we did a good job.”
In his first game back at Centre 200, former Screaming Eagles forward Jonathan Laberge put his team on the board with the opening goal of the game. Dany Masse led the way for the Titan with a goal and an assist in a losing cause.
In goal, Olivier Roy improved to 18-10-0 by making 18 saves in the win, his best work coming in the second period to prevent the Titan from getting back into the contest. Nicolas Champion allowed three goals on six shots in the loss before being replaced by Antoine Tardif at 16:16 of the first. Tardif stopped 19 shots in relief.
“When we needed him, he stepped up,” said Vincent, of Roy.. “That’s what we need from our goaltenders, especially when you’re not that busy, it’s hard to stay focused.
“He showed a lot of maturity to make those big saves when we needed them.”
The Screaming Eagles return to the ice Sunday when they host Eskasoni’s Ashton Bernard and the Shawinigan Cataractes at 4 p.m. It’s the first game for Bernard as a member of the Cataractes, after being traded from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in December.
NOTES: Things got a bit rough as the game neared its conclusion in the third. Screaming Eagle Jordan Clendenning and the Titan’s Ryan Graham dropped the gloves with 34 seconds left in response to a hit from behind by Cape Breton’s Nicolas Chouinard in the corner, as did Cape Breton’s Spencer Corcoran and Masse. At the 20-minute mark, Cape Breton’s Francis Meilleur and Bathurst’s Kyle MacNeil duked it out, along with Screaming Eagle Sam Finn and Titan Brad Tesnik.
