Rookie forward Giorgio Estephan scored the game-winner early in the third period and goaltender Michael Garteig made 23 saves as the Newfoundland Growlers downed the Brampton Beast 3-1 Sunday afternoon to earn a split of a two-game weekend series in southern Ontario.
The Beast, an affiliate of the Ottawa Senators, had won 3-2 Saturday in the first-ever ECHL regular-season game between two Canadian-based teams.
On Sunday, Estephan delivered his team-leading sixth goal of the season two-and-half minutes into the final frame to break a 1-1 tie, while Brady Ferguson added an empty-netter late in the contest for Newfoundland (5-4-0), which is in the midst of an eight-game road trip.
Todd Skirving, with his first of the season, had the other goal for the Growlers, who handed Brampton (3-1-1) its first regulation loss of the season.
Daniel Ciampiani of the Beast had opened the scoring with a first-period tally, while Jake Paterson, a former third-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, made 38 saves in the Brampton goal.
While Newfoundland has to be pleased with a season-high 41-shot attack that put the team back over .500, there must be continuing frustration with the Growlers’ power play, which went zero-for-14 in Brampton, including Sunday, when there were eight man-advantage opportunities for the visitors. The Growlers’ power play now has a success rate of just over eight per cent, going three-for-37 in nine games. Team’s usually want to be 20 per cent or better on the power play.
A PP tally would have helped Saturday, when Newfoundland — as coaches often say — found itself chasing the game.
The Beast led throughout, although the Growlers had an excellent chance to tie the contest with four consecutive power-play opportunities in the second period. But they produced nothing. Then, when Josh Kestner got his second goal of the game to bring Newfoundland back to within one goal in the third period, efforts to draw even were hobbled as the Growlers drew three consecutive minors, leaving the team on the penalty kill for five-and-a-half minutes of the last 9:18 of the game.
On Saturday, Eamon McAdam was the Newfoundland goaltender as the parent Maple Leafs’ organization took advantage of the Growlers being in suburban Toronto.
McAdam had been recalled to the Leafs earlier in the month and then reassigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, but hadn’t seen any game action with either team. So he was sent to the Growlers for one day so as to give him a start against the Beast.
On Sunday, McAdam was recalled to the Marlies, meaning Mario Culina once again was the backup to Garteig, who has started seven of the Growlers’ last eight games.
The moves involving McAdam were among a flurry of recent transactions involving the Growlers, whose lineup on Sunday included five players who weren’t even on the team’s roster when it left on the road trip 10 days ago.
Since then, Newfoundland has added defenceman Tate Olson and Anthony Cortese in future consideration trades, signed rearguard Cody Smith from Peoria of the SPHL and received forwards JJ Piccinich and Hunter Elyniuk from the Marlies, although Elyniuk didn’t play against the Beast.
However, the most notable addition has to be that of defenceman Kyle Cumiskey, the 31-year-old defenceman who has appeared in 139 regular-season NHL games, and 15 more in the post-season, including nine in the 2014-15 when he won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cumiskey, who has been troubled by injuries in recent seasons, had been on a tryout contract with the Marlies, but was released last week by that club, which found itself with too many veterans in light of AHL rules involving the same.
Cumiskey, who was paired with Steffan Leblanc, had an even plus-minus rating in the two games with Brampton.
With Cumiskey and all those players coming in, the Growlers predictably jettisoned or shuffled a number of others, including forward Jimmy Soper and defencemen Andrew Darrigo and Carter Stuthers, who were all released.
Added to the 14-day injured reserve list were forwards Zach O’Brien and Max Mizyurin and blueliner Alex Gudbranson, while Elyniuk and Marcus Power now occupy the official two-man reserve list, often populated with players with day-to-day injuries.
Kestner came off injured reserve, while the team is dealing with the unavailability of defenceman James Melindy, who now has served two games of a five-game league suspension for leaving the bench to become involved in a fight last week in Reading.
Melindy’s suspension will end at the same time as the Growlers’ road trip, which continues Tuesday night in Glens Falls, N.Y., where they take on the Adirondack Thunder.
Twitter: @telybrendan
