CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The rookie got the Charlottetown Islanders off on the right skate and they never looked back on Sunday afternoon.
Brett Budgell scored 2:08 and 2:20 into the game as the Islanders defeated the Moncton Wildcats 6-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Eastlink Centre. Budgell set a franchise record for the fastest two goals, surpassing Edo Terglav’s record of 14 seconds from the 1999-2000 season when the club was in Montreal. Chris Doyle is third on the list at 28 seconds from the 2008-09 season while current assistant captain Keith Getson is eighth at 46 seconds from last season.
Pascal Aquin recorded his second hat trick of the season on Sunday while Cam Askew scored a single for the home side.
Derek Gentile, Askew, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Sullivan Sparkes, Olivier Desjardins, Daniel Hardie, Sam King and Taylor Egan each had an assist for the Isles.
James Phelan scored twice for the Wildcats while Alexander Khovanov had a goal and an assist. Islanders goalie Matthew Welsh’s older brother, Nicholas, had two helpers for Moncton while Daniil Miromanov had one.
Matthew Welsh made 38 saves for the victory while Matthew Waite was tagged with the loss, allowing two goals on three shots in 2:20. Former Isles netminder Mark Grametbauer made 20 saves on 23 shots in relief.
Charlottetown, which held 3-0 and 4-1 period leads, went 1-for-2 on the power play while Moncton was 2-for-6.
The Islanders improved to 34-22-6-0 and have compiled a 6-3-1-0 record in their last 10 contests while the Wildcats fall to 25-30-5-3 and are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10.
Charlottetown visits Saint John, N.B., Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game with the Sea Dogs. The team will hold its annual banquet Monday night at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre. This year’s event, hosted by Island comedian Patrick Ledwell, is a free occasion and will include raffle and door prizes as well as silent auction items made available throughout the night.
