KENSINGTON – Colby MacArthur made no mistake with the game on his stick.
The third-year forward from Summerside scored a highlight-reel goal with 20 seconds remaining in regulation time to lift the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild to a dramatic 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Moncton Flyers on Wednesday night. Rookie defenceman Zach Biggar of Portage carried the puck down the left side, and showed great patience in making a perfect pass to MacArthur, who made a backhand-forehand deke before sliding the puck home on the short side past Flyers goaltender Matthias Savoie to send the pro-Wild crowd into a frenzy at Credit Union Centre. Rookie Jack Campbell also assisted on the game-winning goal.
“Biggar blocked a big shot in our own end, went wide on the guy, the defenceman fell (leading to a 2-on-1) and he slid it over and I was able to bury the chance,” said MacArthur in explaining how the winning goal developed.
The win moved the Wild into sole possession of first place in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League, two points up on the Flyers. Kensington is 18-2-1 while Moncton, which has one game-in-hand, sits at 17-2-1. Kensington has now won 13 league games in a row.
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Arsenault strong
Another key contributor for the Wild was second-year goaltender Chad Arsenault. He turned aside 40 of 41 shots, including a pair of third-period breakaways with the Flyers leading 1-0 and the game tied 1-1.
“Kudos to Chad Arsenault,” said Wild head coach Kyle Dunn. “He bounced back from an early goal and competed and battled all game. He made timely saves when we were on our heels, the breakaways in the third, some tough tips and kept us in it until we could get the second goal.”
Early goal
Alexis Dubé, who was set up by Cole Cormier, opened the scoring for the Flyers on a wrap-around 13 seconds into the game, and the score remained 1-0 until Dixon MacLeod banged in a rebound from the side of the net at the eight-minute mark of the third period. MacArthur and Ryan Richards drew assists on MacLeod’s goal.
“That (tying goal) was huge,” said MacArthur, a draft pick of the Summerside Western Capitals of the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League). “We were flat and nothing was going in, but that (goal) got everyone up on the bench.”
When asked if anything in particular was said in the dressing room during the second intermission after the Flyers limited the Wild to very few quality scoring chances in the first 40 minutes, MacArthur answered: “Dunner came in and hyped the boys up. We knew it was a big game for first place, and we came out strong (in the third period).”
Dunn agreed with the assessment that it’s tight games like this that teams with championship aspirations have to find a way to win.
“The coaching staff here challenges the guys to be the team we know we can be,” said Dunn. “Once we get our feet going playing as a five-man unit out on the ice, we are a pretty good hockey team. We had a great response from our guys.”
The Wild opens a home-and-home series with the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride (10-11-1) at MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown on Saturday at 6 p.m. The teams meet back in Kensington on Boxing Day at 7:30 p.m.
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