SYDNEY, N.S. — After losing to the last-place Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Wednesday, the Cape Breton Eagles responded with a victory on Friday.
The local Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 5-4 in front of 2,581 fans at Centre 200 in Sydney.
Cape Breton held a 5-3 lead late in the third period. The Sea Dogs responded, pulling to within one, but that’s as close as they would come to tying the game.
Derek Gentile, Liam Kidney, Ivan Ivan, Egor Sokolov and Shawn Boudrias netted goals for the Eagles (36-17-2-1).
Anderson MacDonald scored twice, while Joshua Roy and Maxim Cajkovic chipped in with single markers for the Sea Dogs (27-29-4-1).
Cape Breton’s Kevin Mandolese made 31 saves. Saint John’s Zachary Bouthillier turned aside 35 of 40 shots.
Saint John opened the scoring early in the game with Roy tipping home his 12th goal of the season past Mandolese at 1:03 of the first period. MacDonald gave the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead shortly after, before Gentile scored a shorthanded marker late in the period, pulling the Eagles to one.
Cape Breton tied the game with Kidney sliding home an Ivan rebound at the 16-minute mark of the second period, before Ivan gave the Eagles their first lead of the game at 18:47 of the middle stanza.
Sokolov extended the Cape Breton lead at 7:48 of the third period with his team-leading 41st goal of the year, but Saint John responded with a Cajkovic marker shortly after to make the score 4-3.
The Eagles regained the two-goal lead minutes later with Boudrias finding the back of the net. MacDonald would score on the power play to make the score 5-4, but Saint John couldn’t find the equalizer with the net empty.
Cape Breton outshot Saint John 40-35, while going 0-for-3 on the power play. The Sea Dogs went 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.
The Eagles will finish their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host projected first overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, Alexis Lafrenière and the Rimouski Océanic.
Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney.
HIGHLIGHT REEL:
SCORE: Cape Breton 5, Saint John 4
CROWD/VENUE: 2,581, Centre 200, Sydney
GOAL SCORERS: CAP: Derek Gentile, Liam Kidney, Ivan Ivan, Egor Sokolov and Shawn boudrias; SNB: Anderson MacDonald (2), Joshua Roy and Maxim Cajkovic
SAVES/SHOTS: CAP: Kevin Mandolese (31/35); SNB: Zachary Bouthillier (35/40)
THREE STARS: 1st: Ivan Ivan (CAP), 2nd: Anderson MacDonald (SNB), 3rd: Ryan Francis (CAP)
TURNING POINT: Shawn Boudrias third period goal proved to be the game winner to lift Cape Breton past Saint John.
WHAT IT MEANS: Cape Breton pulls to within three points of Rimouski for third place in the Eastern Conference.
UP NEXT: Rimouski Oceanic, Saturday, 7 p.m., Centre 200, Sydney
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LINES:
Cape Breton:
Forwards:
- Egor Sokolov – Derek Gentile – Shawn Boudrias
- Liam Kidney – Shawn Element – Tyler Hinam
- Ivan Ivan – Ryan Francis – Félix Lafrance
- Cole Fraser – Connor Trenholm – Logan Camp
Defencemen:
- Adam McCormick – Jarrett Baker
- Kyle Havlena – Xavier Bouchard
- Jeremy Langlois – Nathan Larose
- Logan Kelly-Murphy
Goaltenders:
- Kevin Mandolese (Start)
- William Grimard
Scratches: Mathias Laferrière (lower-body) and Matthew Gordon
Saint John:
Forwards:
- Anderson MacDonald – Jeffrey Durocher – Matt Gould
- Charles Savoie – Josh Lawrence – Maxim Cajkovic
- Brady Burns – Joshua Roy – Dawson Stairs
- Alexandre O’Neill – Ben Badalamenti – Alex Drover
- Julian Vander Voet
Defencemen:
- Jérémie Poirier – William Villeneuve
- Jordan Spadafore – Charlie DesRoches
- Kale McCallum – Brendan Sibley
Goaltenders:
- Zachary Bouthillier (Start)
- Noah Patenaude
Scratches: Joona Lehmus and Nicholas Deakin-Poot
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Twitter: @CBPost_Sports
RELATED LINK: Cape Breton Eagles’ Bouchard watched closely as his father coached future NHL players
