CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Logan Chisholm scored with 35 seconds left in overtime Thursday to give the Acadie-Bathurst Titan their first win of the season.
The Titan defeated the Charlottetown Islanders 3-2 at the Eastlink Centre in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
“In this game you get what you deserve, and I didn't think we deserved a win tonight,” Isles head coach Jim Hulton said. “I didn't think our body of work over 60 minutes was near good enough. . . I didn't think we skated. I didn't think we were willing to pay the price to play the game the right way.”
It was a night to learn a valuable lesson early in a 68-game schedule.
“If we snuck that one out, maybe we forget our first 40 minutes and we can't afford to forget it right now," Hulton said.
Liam Murphy and Alexis Sansfacon scored second period power-play goals for the Titan.
Daniel Hardie from Kevin Gursoy and Alexander Dersch cut the lead in half 38 seconds into the third period. Colin Van Den Hurk tied the game with 2:18 left with helpers to Dersch and Derek Gentile.
With six seconds left in regulation, Islanders captain Pierre-Olivier Joseph high-sticked Titan captain, and Summerside native, Noah Dobson. He received a double-minor and put his team shorthanded for the first 3:54 of overtime.
“It’s a horrible penalty by your captain and he knows it,” Hulton said.
"It’s out of character,” he added. “It was a me-first, not a team-first play, but he’ll be better and won’t do it again.”
The Islanders did kill the penalty with players getting into shooting lanes, including Derek Gentile blocking two Dobson shots, and Dakota Lund-Cornish making a couple of key saves. The fans let the players know they appreciated it and so did the bench boss.
"The guys did a hell of a job on the kill,” Hulton said. “That was more of the identity we’re used to seeing in this sweater.”
Keenan MacIsaac had two assists while Dobson, Chisholm and Kristian Kovacik each had one.
Former Isles goalie Mark Grametbauer made 38 saves in the win while Lund-Cornish stopped 22 shots in the loss.
Acadie-Bathurst improved to 1-2-0-0 while Charlottetown falls to 2-1-1-0.
The Islanders play their first road game of the season Saturday in Sydney, N.S., against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. They then make their first Quebec road trip with stops in Rimouski, Baie-Comeau and Chicoutimi.