SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — There are a couple of themes developing from the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals’ first two home games of the 2019-20 Maritime Junior Hockey League season.
They are low-scoring games and team captain Brodie MacArthur netting the game-winning goals.
After scoring 3:47 into overtime for a 2-1 win over the Yarmouth Mariners in the Caps’ home opener on Sept. 28, MacArthur’s power-play goal at 6:15 of the third period broke a 1-1 tie against the Pictou County Crushers on Saturday night. That tally proved to be the difference as the Caps went on to skate away with another 2-1 victory before 1,401 fans at Eastlink Arena.
It was an important two points for the Capitals, who lost 5-1 on the road to the Grand Falls Rapids on Friday night.
The Caps will enter a big week on home ice at 6-2-0 (won-lost-overtime losses). The league-leading South Shore Lumberjacks (7-1-0) from Bridgewater, N.S., make their only trip to Summerside on Thursday and the Edmundston Blizzard (6-1-0) visits Eastlink Arena on Saturday. Puck drop for both contests is 7 p.m.
In on all goals
MacArthur, a Summerside native, fourth-year veteran forward and Charlottetown native Kallum Muirhead and 16-year-old rookie Zach Biggar from Portage were in on both Caps’ goals against Pictou County. Muirhead and Biggar drew assists on the game-winning goal for the second week in a row.
Biggar and MacArthur drew helpers on Muirhead’s game-opening goal and sixth marker of the season 36 seconds into the second period.
A tally by second-year Crushers forward Evan Gallant of Abram-Village at 3:02 of the third period tied the game 1-1.
Third-year goaltender Dominik Tmej was another key performer in the Caps’ victory. He finished with 35 saves, including 12 in the third period when the Crushers (3-3-0) held a 13-9 edge.
Overall, the Caps outshot the Crushers 42-36, including a 21-12 advantage in the second period. Matthew Normore finished with 40 saves in the Pictou County goal.
Special teams
Special teams played big role for the Caps, who were 1-for-2 with the man advantage and successfully killed all four Pictou County power plays.
The game’s three stars were:
1. Dominik Tmej (Caps), 2. Brodie MacArthur (Caps), 3. Matthew Normore (Crushers).
- RELATED:
- Click here for feature story on Western Capitals defenceman Gianluca Fuoco:
- Click here for story on game between Western Capitals and Grand Falls on Friday night:
- Click here for story on Western Capitals goaltender Dominik Tmej named league's second star of the month for September:
- Click here for story on Western Capitals' home opener vs. Yarmouth Mariners on Sept. 28:
- Click here for feature story on Kensington Wild team captain and Western Capitals' draft pick Will Proud:
