After having their division-leading offence pretty much shut down the night before, the Newfoundland Growlers reverted back to a more normal form on Sunday afternoon, downing the homestanding Brampton Beast 7-4.
The result ended a five-game winning streak for the Beast, who had defeated the Growlers 3-1 on Saturday, when they handed Newfoundland its only regulation loss in its last 10 games (8-1-1).
Sunday’s game also concluded a Growlers five-game road trip which was separated into two parts by the league’s all-star break.
As well, the weekend contests in Brampton were the first with John Snowden as the Growlers’ official head coach.
Snowden had been an assistant to Ryane Clowe, who resigned last week for health reasons. Those medical issues had already led to Snowden filling in for Clowe in more than a dozen games earlier this season.
Sunday at the CAA Centre, first star Hudson Elyniuk had a goal, two assists and a plus-five rating for Newfoundland (28-12-2).
Adam Pardy, Sam Babintsev, Evan Neugold and second star Zach O’Brien each had a goal and an assist for the Growlers, who also got markers from J.J. Piccinich and Matt Bradley.
The seven goals give Newfoundland 158 on the season, surpassed only by the Florida Everblades’ 172 tallies.
Marcus Power had two assists for Newfoundland, which had its offensive capabilities on full display, even without two of the team’s top five scorers in the lineup. Scott Pooley was given the day off and Brady Ferguson was serving the second game of a four-game league-imposed suspension for a hit to the head earlier in the road trip.
The Growlers scored three unanswered goals in the first period and got their other four in a wild second period, that saw the teams combine for four goals — three by the Growlers — in a two-minute span late in the frame.
Third star Artur Tianulin scored twice for Brampton (21-17-4), while Nathan Todd and newly-signed Liam Kerins, playing his first game for Brampton, had the Beast’s other goals.
Michael Garteig was the Newfoundland goalie, while Etienne Marcoux and Jake Paterson, who provided scoreless relief work in the third, split the duties for Brampton.
On Saturday, Paterson earned first-star honours with a 21-save performance, while Eamon McAdam, his Growlers counterpart, was second star with 29 stops on 31 shots (one of the Brampton goals was an empty-netter).
Elyniuk had Newfoundland’s lone goal in the game
The Growlers return home to Mile One Centre to begin a seven-game homestand, one of their longest of the season, starting Friday when they take on the Worcester Railers.
