SYDNEY, N.S. — The Cape Breton Eagles saw their 12-game home winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, losing 4-2 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Centre 200 in Sydney.
The Eagles found themselves in penalty trouble early and often, taking nine penalties in the contest, which included killing off three 5-on-3 power play opportunities for the Titan.
Despite the loss to the league's worst team, a positive for the club was its penalty kill. Cape Breton was successful in killing off eight penalties, allowing the Titan to score only once with the man-advantage.
Derek Gentile and Shaw Boudrias replied with goals for the Eagles (35-17-2-1).
Acadie-Bathurst's Tristan Bérubé made 38 saves. Cape Breton's William Grimard stopped 22 of 25 shots.
Cape Breton opened the scoring with Gentile - fresh out of the penalty box - scoring his 18th goal of the season just past the midway point of the first period. The Titan tied the game before the period was over with Rumsey finding the twine.
The Titan took a 2-1 lead on the power play at the 10:21 mark of the second period with former Cape Breton West Islander Chisholm notching his 11th goal of the season, before Desgagnés netted the eventual game-winner, shorthanded, minutes later.
Cape Breton pulled to within one in the third period with Boudrias' 30th goal of the season, but the Titan would seal the deal with Desgagnés scoring into an empty net, giving the visitors the victory.
The Eagles outshot the Titan 40-26, while going 0-for-5 on the power play. The Titan were 1-for-9 with the man-advantage.
Cape Breton will return to the ice on Friday when they host the Saint John Sea Dogs. Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney.
Notes: Nathan Larose (illness), Mathias Laferriere (lower-body), Egor Sokolov (upper-body) and Connor Trenholm (lower-body) were not in the lineup for Cape Breton.
HIGHLIGHT REEL:
SCORE: Acadie-Bathurst 4, Cape Breton 2
CROWD/VENUE: 3,599, Centre 200, Sydney
GOAL SCORERS: BAT: Mathieu Desgagnés (2), Logan Chisholm and Mark Rumsey; CAP: Derek Gentile and Shawn Boudrias
SAVES/SHOTS: BAT: Tristan Bérubé (38/40); CAP: William Grimard (22/25)
THREE STARS: 1st: Tristan Bérubé (BAT), 2nd: Xavier Bouchard (CAP), 3rd: Ryan Francis (CAP)
TURNING POINT: Mathieu Desgagnés scored twice including the game-winner to help the Titan beat the Eagles
WHAT IT MEANS: The Cape Breton Eagles had their 12-game home winning streak snapped with the loss
UP NEXT: Saint John Sea Dogs, 7 p.m., Centre 200, Sydney
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LINES:
Cape Breton:
Forwards:
Felix Lafrance - Ryn Francis - Shawn Boudrias
Shawn Element - Derek Gentile - Tyler Hinam
Cole Fraser - Ivan Ivan - Liam Kidney
Matthew Gordon - ------- - Logan Camp
Defencemen:
Adam McCormick - Xavier Bouchard
Kyle Havlena - Jarrett Baker
Jeremy Langlois - Logan Kelly-Murphy
Goaltenders:
William Grimard (Start)
Kevin Mandolese
Scratches: Nathan Larose, Connor Trenholm, Egor Sokolov and Mathias Laferriere
Acadie-Bathurst:
Forwards:
Olivier Coulombe - Remy Anglehart - Mark Rumsey
Logan Chisholm - Riley Kidney - Mathieu Desgagnes
Bennett MacArthur - Cole Huckins - Alexis Dube
Ben Allison - David Doucet - Yannic Bastarche
Cole Stewart
Defencemen:
Harijs Brants - Yan Aucoin
Noah Delemont - Cole Larkin
Maxime Rioux - Benjamin Roode
Goaltenders:
Tristan Berube (Start)
Felix-Anthony Ethier
Scratches: Jeremie Jacob and Zackary Riel
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Twitter: @CBPost_Sports
