March 15th, 2008
Slaney scores OT winner as Eagles edge Maineiacs
SYDNEY - Robert Slaney's goal at 2:20 of overtime lifted the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to a 2-1 win over the Lewiston Maineiacs in a crucial Quebec Major Junior Hockey League contest at Centre 200, Friday. Slaney slid the puck through a crowd and past Maineiacs goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who made 31 saves in the loss. The two points were huge, as the Screaming Eagles secured home-ice advantage to open the playoffs.
Both teams wind up the regular season Sunday at 4 p.m. at Centre 200.
“Right from the first whistle we came out flying,” said Slaney, following a game characterised by a playoff-like atmosphere.
“We were really intense on the forecheck, but we were smart defensively, too. A little bit of penalty trouble at the beginning of the third, but we caught one in overtime, thankfully.”
Jordan Clendenning scored his 33rd of the year on the power play at 13:01 of the second period to open the scoring, but Marc-AndrΓΒ© Daneau netted the equalizer, another power-play goal, at 4:43 of the third to force overtime and set up Slaney’s heroics.
Getting under Bernier’s skin was top priority for the Screaming Eagles, who even drew a penalty from the netminder in the first period. “We have a bunch of guys who compete and are intense and Bernier’s one of their key players,” said Screaming Eagles head coach Pascal Vincent.
“We have guys who play in-your-face hockey and it’s not necessarily part of the game plan to be that way, but that’s the kind of players we have.
The more it’s like that, the better they are.”
In goal, Olivier Roy made 25 stops to improve his record to 26-15-0. Cape Breton went 2-for-7 on the power play, while Lewiston was 1-for-4.
“Just looking at the standings, the motivation was there by itself and the guys responded extremely well,” said Vincent. “It was a well-played game and we managed to get home-ice advantage with that two points so that’s huge for us.”
NOTES:
Defenceman Jan Piskacek went into the boards and had to be helped off the ice in the second period. Vincent said he suffered an upper-body injury and will be reassessed today, but early indications point to him not playing Sunday. . .The glass at the visitor’s penalty box was shatter after a hit in the third period, which delayed the contest. . .Spencer Corcoran and Matt Boudreau dropped the gloves in the second period, with Corcoran winning the decision.
tjcolello@cbpost.com
