SUMMERSIDE – The ‘TJ Shea Express’ continued to roll along Thursday night.
The 19-year-old sophomore forward from Anglo/Tignish scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals to a 4-2 home-ice victory over the Valley Wildcats.
“We played a solid 60 minutes,” assessed Shea, who has now recorded 29 points during a 12-game point streak. “We may have let them get back into it and make it close (in the third period), but overall we played a good game. We used our speed, and came ready to play.”
When asked about his point streak, a humble Shea offered, “I’ve just been working my hardest, and getting the bounces.”
It was the start of an important eight-day stretch at Eastlink Arena for the Caps, who host divisional opponents Woodstock on Saturday, and St. Stephen on Thursday, Nov. 30. Both games are 7 p.m. starts.
“St. Stephen is right behind us and Woodstock is not too far behind either,” said Shea. “We have to make the most of those games, and try to get back up in the standings.”
The Capitals sit fourth in the Eastlink North Division of the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League) at 8-9-1-0 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses), three points back of Campbellton (9-8-2-0). Woodstock (5-10-3-1) is three points back of Summerside, and the Caps are two points ahead of St. Stephen (7-13-0-1).
Overall, Caps head coach Billy McGuigan was “pretty impressed” with his team’s performance versus Valley.
“We were pretty solid,” assessed McGuigan. “Early it was kind of a run-and-gun game, and we got kind of got back away from the track meet and playing with a little bit more structure. We were solid for 60 minutes.”
Tmej strong
Goaltender Dominik Tmej turned in a strong 30-save effort in his first start with the Capitals.
“(Tmej’s) game was excellent, and he played the puck really well,” said McGuigan. “I really liked his game, and we’re happy to have him.”
Opening goal
Shea, who scored the only goal of the first period at the nine-minute mark, was quick to credit his linemates.
“Our whole line played well,” said Shea. “We changed the lines up a bit, and I started to play with Brodie MacArthur and Cam Roberts (Thursday).
“The two of them worked well down low, and that’s where we manipulated their D and got some scoring opportunities.”
With the teams tied 1-1, defenceman Sebastian Cormier (1-1) found the top of the net off the iron with the man advantage at 3:57 to give the Caps the lead for good.
Shea set up MacArthur (1-1), who scored on a nifty deke from in close at 8:16 to make it 3-1. Shea scored a short-handed tally on a great individual effort at 13:23 as he carried the puck over the Valley blue-line, made a nifty move around a defenceman and fired the puck home from the slot to send the Caps into the second intermission up 4-1.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing when I got down there,” admitted Shea. “I tried to get a shot on net, and it went in.”
Matt Hermary’s power-play goal at 6:53 of the third period made it 4-2, but the Caps shut the door defensively the rest of the way.
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Recap
A recap of the Western Capitals vs. Valley Wildcats:
Final score – Caps 4 Wildcats 2.
Scoring – Caps: TJ Shea (2-1), Sebastian Cormier (1-1), Brodie MacArthur (1-1); Wildcats: Brett Tidman, Matt Hermary.
Assists – Caps: Jesse Annear, Cam Roberts; Wildcats: Ben Varga, Brock McLeod.
Period scores – 1-0 and 4-1 in favour of the Caps.
Shots on goal – 32-32.
Goaltenders – Caps: Dominik Tmej; Wildcats: Cole McLaren.
Three stars – 1. TJ Shea (Caps), 2. Dominik Tmej (Caps), 3. Brodie MacArthur (Caps).
Attendance – 742.
