CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Kevin Gursoy scored a hat trick and Matthew Welsh had his second shutout of the season Wednesday as the Charlottetown Islanders blanked the Saint John Sea Dogs 6-0.
It was Gursoy’s first multi-goal game in his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career.
Hunter Drew, Liam Peyton and Sullivan Sparkes, who was called up from the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals, also scored for Charlottetown. Xavier Bernard had two assists, was plus-3 and laid a big hit on Nicholas Deakin-Poot in the third period for which he received a two-minute interference penalty for. Noah Laaouan, Daniel Hardie, Brett Budgell, Will Sirman, Jordan Maher, Colin Van Den Hurk and Cole Edwards each had an assist.
Mikhail Denisov made 31 stops in the loss while Welsh turned aside 35 for the win. Welsh’s other shutout this season came Sept. 26 against the Sea Dogs at the Eastlink Centre. He has 10 career shutouts.
The Islanders held 2-0 and 4-0 period leads.
Charlottetown was 1-for-2 on the power play and killed all five of Saint John’s chances.
The Islanders were 0-3-1-0 in their last four games before Wednesday’s victory which improved their record to 30-17-3-3. Saint John, loaded with young prospects, is 12-39-2-2 but beat the Islanders in two of the their previous three meetings before Wednesday.
The Isles host the Gatineau Olympiques (19-29-3-2) Thursday at 7 p.m.
