SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It’s safe to say the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals have made an emphatic statement.
P.E.I.’s lone entry in the Maritime Junior Hockey League posted two convincing victories over two nationally-ranked teams over three days at Eastlink Arena in Summerside. The Caps began the week exploding for five unanswered third-period goals en route to a 7-1 victory on Thursday over the 10th-ranked South Shore Lumberjacks from Bridgewater, N.S., and followed that up with a 7-3 decision versus the Edmundston Blizzard on Saturday night.
The result left the Caps and Blizzard with identical 8-2-0 (won-lost-overtime losses) records and in a four-way tie with the Lumberjacks (8-3-0) and Yarmouth Mariners (7-3-2) with 16 points atop the overall standings of the 12-team league.
Hat trick
Against the Blizzard, forward and team captain Brodie MacArthur netted a hat trick to lead the Caps offensively before 1,252 fans. Kallum Muirhead, Brodie MacMillan, Nick Reeves and Bennett MacArthur contributed single goals. Colby MacArthur (2), Josh MacDonald (2), Zach Biggar, Theo Citrullo, Marc-André LeCouffe and Marc Richard earned assists to round out the Caps’ balanced attack.
Chrystopher Collin (1-2) and Tristan Gagnon (1-1) replied for the Blizzard, who defeated the Caps 5-2 in the previous regular-season meeting between the teams on Sept. 20 in Edmundston, N.B.
Overall, the Blizzard held a 39-36 shots-on-goal advantage. Dominik Tmej earned the goaltending win over Ewan MacDonald.
Referees Nick Hann and Travis Timmons called six of 10 minor penalties against the Blizzard.
The game’s three stars were:
1. Brodie MacArthur (Caps), 2. Josh MacDonald (Caps), 3. Colby MacArthur (Caps).
The Caps’ next game is on Monday in Campbellton, N.B., against the Tigers (4-2-1). It will mark the first meeting between the two teams since Campbellton defeated Summerside in six games in last year’s Eastlink North Division final series.
The Caps are back on the road Friday against the Truro Bearcats (2-6-3) and return home to host the Tigers on Saturday. All three games will begin at 7 p.m.
