Despite giving the Cape Breton West Islanders 13 power-plays, the Cariboo Cougars dug deep and pulled out an entertaining 4-3 victory at the Telus Cup on Wednesday.
GAME OVER! The @cariboocougars are into the win column, beating the @CBWestIslanders 4-3. Statistics: https://t.co/fQ2BlNVuKf #TELUSCup pic.twitter.com/3koYBkA5Db
— TELUS Cup (@HC_TELUSCup) April 27, 2017
Hunter Floris broke open the scoring in the first period finishing off a scoring play from line mate Darian Long giving the CN Centre crowd a chance to erupt before the end of the period.
The Islanders would start the second with four consecutive power-plays, but were unable to solve Marcus Allen who played his best game of the tournament stopping 27 of 30 shots in the victory.
After killing off Cape Breton’s ninth man advantage, Floris would pot his second courtesy of a three-way passing play that included Devin Sutton and Trey Thomas making it 2-0.
Daine Dubois would score late on the power-play extending the advantage to three after jamming home a loose puck inside the Islander crease past goaltender Colten Ellis.
GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!! Dubois pots the rebound on the PP and Cougars lead 3-0. Gervais and Maser assists
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) April 27, 2017
Before the end of the middle frame, Keenan Gillis put the visitors on the board thanks to a floating wrist-shot that zipped past a screened Allen making it a 3-1 game after 40 minutes.
Cape Breton continued to show flashes of their high-end skill in the third, but it was another point blast from 15-year-old defenceman Sean Stewart that cut the deficit back to a single goal.
A little over two minutes later, Long was sprung loose on a breakaway by Riley Krane and slid it five-hole on Ellis extending the lead to 4-2.
The drama would not stop there as Logan Chisholm completed an end to end rush going between the legs and scored stick side past Allen bringing the Islanders back to life.
In the dying seconds, Cape Breton nearly tied it as a shot trickled past Allen and was swept out at the last moment to preserve the victory.
The Islanders went one-for-13 on the power-play, while Cariboo was one-for-seven.
Cougars defenceman Joel Patsey was given a game-misconduct in the first period after receiving a checking from behind penalty.
MYPGNOW caught up with Allen after the game who talked about the hectic final few seconds.
“The puck kind of squeaked through my arm and it went behind me, so I felt it, kicked my leg over and it squeaked through to the other side so I had to spin around and knock it away with my stick.”
Allen adds the vibe in the room was quite cool despite entering the contest with an 0-1-1 record.
“The whole team was more relaxed. Everyone wasn’t so tense and we were just excited to play and not so nervous like the two other games.”
Cougars Head Coach and GM Trevor Sprague also spoke glowingly about the 16-year-old’s performance.
“He’s a good character kid. He knows how to bounce back and obviously we got some more power-plays and were able to use him a little bit more, he took advantage of his opportunities and that second goal was highlight worthy.”
Cariboo improves to 1-1-1 on the tournament and sits alone in fourth spot behind Mississauga, Leduc, and Cape Breton.
Cougars sit alone in fourth in @HC_TELUSCup standings. One point behind the three teams sharing first (Cape Breton, Leduc, Mississauga)
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) April 27, 2017
The Cougars play the Saint Francois Blizzard (1-2) at 7:30PM tonight, and Sprague says they’ll be changing things up between the pipes.
“We’re going to have Zack Wickson start since we need to give Marcus a day off here and its going to give Zack a chance to show why he’s in our league and put up the numbers he did this season.”
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