CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Brett Budgell scored the winner 5:43 into double overtime Friday as the Charlottetown Islanders defeated the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-2 to take Game 1 of their playoff series.
“It’s a great feeling for a lot of reasons,” the 17-year-old Paradise, N.L., native said after the game. “(These) playoffs we’re playing for a lot more than just a win. Our trainer, Kevin Elliott, is going through a tough time. This one definitely goes out to him and all our thoughts and prayers are with him.”
Elliott’s wife, Carolyn MacGuigan-Elliott, died on Wednesday. A moment of silence was held prior to Friday’s game at the Eastlink Centre.
The Islanders finished the regular season fourth in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, one point ahead of fifth-place Cape Breton. The Islanders went 5-3-0-1 against the Screaming Eagles in head-to-head meetings with only one game decided by three or more goals.
“This series has started the way it was predicted to be,” said Cape Breton head coach Marc-André Dumont. “We knew it would be a battle out there from the get-go and that's what we saw tonight.”
His counterpart, Jim Hulton, agreed.
“It came as advertised,” he said. “I am excited because I think we won on a night when we didn't have our A game.”
A degree of nervousness from the Islanders was apparent to Hulton and he didn't feel his squad employed its skating legs the way it wanted to until the first overtime.
“It’s our script,” he said. “We stuck with it, (Matthew) Welsh makes some unbelievably timely saves, as he always does, and we find a way to get the job done.”
In double overtime, Thomas Casey’s pass on a two-on-one bounced over Liam Peyton’s stick and into the corner as Budgell was charging down the wing for the puck after a line change.
“It was kind on its edge too, so it was a bit of a knuckler and I just stepped in into it and it had eyes and found its way to the back of the net,” he said.
Budgell said he was just in the right place at the right time.
“Every guy on that bench put in the same effort and put their body on the line,” he said in deflecting any credit.
There isn’t much time for either side to think of Friday’s outcome, as they meet for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre before the series shifts to Sydney, N.S.
The teams traded chances early on during Friday’s game.
Derek Gentile gave the visitors the lead 13:22 into the game and it stood up until Kevin Gursoy tied it with 1:04 left in the second period by converting a Nikita Alexandrov pass. Daniel Hardie scored a power-play goal six minutes into the third period to give the home side the lead, but Mitchell Balmas tied it 10 minutes later by beating a defenceman and then his good buddy Welsh to force overtime.
Both Gentile and Balmas are former Islanders now playing for their hometown team. Balmas was key all night. He had nine shots and six of those were deemed dangerous by the league’s statisticians – three of them being breakaways.
“Mitchy is a really special player. He has a great ability to put the puck in the net,” Welsh said, noting his strong release.
“I was lucky enough to get him on two of those breakaways, but he buried . . . the third one. He’s a special player, so you have to expect him to score, but we did a really good job of shutting down some of their top guys tonight.”
Welsh his teammates worked hard with guys blocking shots, tying up forwards in front of him or getting to the net to make it hard on Screaming Eagles goalie Kevin Mandolese to see shots.
“I’m so proud of our team with the effort we put out,” Welsh said. “There was no quit in our team (but) a lot of resilience.”
Highlight reel
A look at Friday’s Game 1 between the Charlottetown Islanders at the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at the Eastlink Centre.
Outcome
Cape Breton – 2.
Charlottetown – 3 2OT.
Goals
Cape Breton – Derek Gentile and Mitchell Balmas.
Charlottetown – Kevin Gursoy, Daniel Hardie and Brett Budgell.
Assists
Cape Breton – Gabriel Proulx, Leon Gawanke and Kyle Havlena.
Charlottetown – Hunter Drew (2), Nikita Alexandrov, Lukas Cormier and Thomas Casey.
Goalies
Cape Breton – Kevin Mandolese, 39 saves on 42 shots.
Charlottetown – Matthew Welsh, 41 saves on 43 shots.
Power play
Cape Breton – 0-for-4.
Charlottetown – 1-for-5.
Faceoff wins
Cape Breton – 53.
Charlottetown – 26.
Hits
Cape Breton – 15.
Charlottetown – 18.
Attendance – 2,736.
Rising to the occasion – Budgell scored six goals in 18 playoff games last year as a rookie. Two of the six were game-winning goals.
Head coach Jim Hulton said: “Some guys just thrive in the moment, Budgey is one of those guys. He’s terrific in last year’s playoffs. He set the tone right from the drop of the puck tonight. He had a different look in his eyes.”
Did you know? The Charlottetown Islanders last four playoff games at the Eastlink Centre have all gone to overtime and resulted in wins for the home side.
Injury – Screaming Eagles defenceman Antoine Crete-Belzile left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury after taking a hit from Liam Peyton in the corner of the Cape Breton zone. The 19-year-old, who played for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada the past three seasons, was making his return to the Cape Breton lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. Head coach Marc-André Dumont said he didn't have an update on his status. Hulton said his team had no injuries to report after the game.
Up next – Game 2 goes Saturday at the Eastlink Centre with a 7:30 p.m. start.
Can’t make it – The first two games will be live on Eastlink Community TV beginning at 7 p.m
