CAMPBELLTON, N.B. – The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals regained home-ice advantage.
The Capitals doubled the Campbellton Tigers 6-3 on Saturday night to even the best-of-seven Eastlink North Division semifinal series in the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) at 1-1. The Tigers won the opener 3-2 in Summerside on Thursday night, and the teams will return to Eastlink Arena for Game 3 on Monday at 7 p.m.
“It’s a series, and you have to win four games,” said Caps head coach Billy McGuigan. “Our job is to stay disciplined, and stay focused. . .
“We are the least penalized team in the Maritime Hockey League in the regular season. We can win hockey games with our skill and discipline, and that’s what we have to keep focusing on.”
Before 819 fans at the Campbellton Memorial Civic Centre, the Capitals jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period, and took a 5-0 cushion into the second intermission. The Caps went ahead 6-0 in the third period, before the Tigers scored three goals in the final 11 minutes.
“We played the way we can,” assessed McGuigan. “We took it to them early in the game, got on the board early and kept rolling from there.”
McGuigan also touched on the importance of gaining control and playing with the lead.
“It gives me a chance to spread the ice time around a little bit more, and back off of our top guys and save them for later in the game,” explained McGuigan. “They didn’t give us a lot in Game 1. They were very tight and stingy defensively, and we also missed a lot of opportunities in Game 1.
“We had a couple of breakaways we didn’t score on, we had some back-door plays and lost the handle or just missed the net. I thought our quality chances were pretty high and we just didn’t execute on them. Then when we got up there when we had chances we buried them.”
Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals forward Chris Chaddock recorded three points in a 6-3 win over the Campbellton Tigers on Saturday night. The Caps’ win evens the best-of-seven Eastlink North Division semifinal series in the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) at 1-1.
MacDonald scores twice
Captain Morgan MacDonald scored twice while Chris Chaddock had a goal and two assists to lead the Capitals. Kallum Muirhead (1-2), Jordan Spence and Cam Roberts also lit the lamp. TJ Shea (2), Brodie MacMillan (2), Brodie MacArthur, Josh MacDonald and Riley Smith were credited with helpers.
Trevor Bush (2-1) and Pierre-Luc Lurette answered for the Tigers. Other helpers went to Charles William-Gagne (2), Francis Thibeault, Raphael Otis, Joel Walker, Drew Toner and Jacob Roberts.
Alex Bishop, who stopped all 28 shots he faced in relief of Dominik Tmej in Game 1, stopped 29 of 32 shots to earn the goaltending win.
“I think we were a little nervous going into Game 1 and maybe were a little overconfident, and didn’t expect Campbellton to come as hard as they did,” said McGuigan. “We got back on our heels and ended up down 3-1 pretty early and had to make a goaltending change.
“Bish came in and stood tall for us, and was very good again (Saturday) night.”
McGuigan said in an interview with the Journal Pioneer on Sunday afternoon he had yet to make a decision on Monday’s starting goaltender. He noted the Caps were practising Sunday evening, and the coaching staff would discuss it.
For the Tigers, Greg Maggio gave up four goals on 13 shots and Tristan Gray was beaten twice on 26 shots.
The game’s three stars were:
1. Morgan MacDonald (Capitals), 2. Chris Chaddock (Capitals), 3. Trevor Bush (Tigers).
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