CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Two months into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season the Islanders are about to play their closest rival, Moncton, for the first time.
It will be the first time Jacob Arsenault plays against his former team since being traded to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in August and coming to the Islanders via waivers in October.
“I’ve been thinking about that for a while,” the Richmond native said. “It’s obviously something everyone knows I’m going to be feeling a little different for.”
But, he said, he had the chance to play against his former teammates in Sherbrooke Sunday, and it will be similar tonight.
“At the start of the game, it feels a little bit different but once you get into the game it's the same old thing. You can’t let your past bother you or affect your play. You just have to play the same way you would any other night.”
Need to know
A look at the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats before tonight’s game at the Eastlink Centre.
Records
Moncton 14-3-2-0
Charlottetown 11-7-1-0
Recent
Moncton 12-0-2-0
Charlottetown 8-2-0-0
Goals for
Moncton 83
Charlottetown 74
Goals against
Moncton 53
Charlottetown 67
Top scorers
GP G A Pts
Moncton
Jeremy McKenna 19 11 19 30
Jakob Pelletier 17 9 16 25
Alexander Khovanov 18 10 12 22
Mika Cyr 19 8 14 22
Jordan Spence 19 2 14 16
Charlottetown
Daniel Hardie 19 13 12 25
Keith Getson 19 7 12 19
Kevin Gursoy 18 4 13 17
Derek Gentile 19 3 14 17
Nikita Alexandrov 19 10 5 15
Top goalies
W L OTL GAA SAV%
Moncton
Francis Leclerc 9 1 2 2.64 .917
Charlottetown
Matthew Welsh 8 6 0 3.58 .888
Islanders head coach Jim Hulton: “We have to stop talking about beating a good team and actually go out and beat a good team.”
Notes – Charlottetown’s Lukas Cormier and Moncton’s Elliot Desnoyers are teammates on Canada Red at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in New Brunswick… Islanders centre Thomas Casey is a game-time decision with an upper-body injury while Liam Peyton is on the mend after participating in full contact practices the past two days.
