SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals stuck with the game plan.
The Capitals, despite holding a 44-21 shots-on-goal advantage and never trailing in the game, engaged in a close battle with the South Shore Lumberjacks Saturday in a Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) match. When the final buzzer sounded, the Caps skated off the Eastlink Arena ice with a 3-1 victory.
“We had the lead and knew we just had to stay with our game,” said Capitals forward Owen Gilhula, who scored two goals and was named the game’s first star. “We stuck together, which is good to see, and it’s just another learning curve for us and a step in the right direction.”
The win, which followed Friday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the host Valley Wildcats in Berwick, N.S., improved Summerside’s record to 3-1-1.
“We had to clean up some of our play in the neutral zone, fewer turnovers and compete a little harder than we did (Friday),” Capitals head coach Billy McGuigan said in a post-game interview. “To get three out of a possible four points in back-to-back games, it’s another great weekend.”
Former Charlottetown Islander Cole Edwards, who has played consistently on a line with Gilhula this season, added a goal and an assist. Josh MacDonald, Ryan Miley, Chris McQuaid and Sid McNeill added assists.
Riley Spears scored the lone goal for the Lumberjacks (0-8-0).
Opens scoring
The five-foot-10, 183-pound Gilhula opened the scoring at 9:55 of the second period when he fired the puck home after picking up a loose puck off the wall and curling into an open lane in the middle of the ice.
“Honestly, I had a similar play (Friday) night in Valley and missed, and I wanted to make sure I capitalized as well,” said Gilhula.
Miley teamed with Edwards for a highlight-reel goal at 18:46 of the second period to send the Caps into the dressing room ahead 2-0 following 40 minutes. Miley, a defenceman, carried the puck down the left wing and made a perfect cross-ice pass to Edwards, who made no mistake firing the puck past a sprawling Lumberjacks goaltender Robert Forbes.
Spears cut the Caps’ lead in half 1:12 into the third period, but Gilhula made no mistake one-timing a pass from McQuaid for a power-play goal at 5:03 to restore a two-goal lead.
“I had the whole net, so it was good,” said Gilhula, who was shaken up early in the third period when he was on the receiving end of a hit that resulted in the Lumberjacks receiving a boarding major and game misconduct.
“I didn’t see the guy coming,” said Gilhula. “Clearly, it was a five-minute major. My trainer (John Blanchard) looked at me, and I’m OK.”
Stephane Giansante earned the win with 20 saves. Forbes had a much busier night in the South Shore goal, finishing with 41 saves.
The Caps picked up four minors while the Lumberjacks received three minor penalties along with the boarding major and one game misconduct.
The game’s three stars were:
1. Owen Gilhula (Caps), 2. Cole Edwards (Caps), 3. Robert Forbes (Lumberjacks).
The Capitals visit the Pictou County Crushers (3-3-0) on Thursday and the Amherst Ramblers (5-1-0) on Saturday. The Caps’ next home game is Dec. 3 against the Truro Bearcats (3-3-0).
Around the MHL
A look at how players with P.E.I. connections recently fared in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL):
It was a big weekend for Islanders playing with the Miramichi Timberwolves.
Matt Gordon, who grew up in Mermaid, scored a hat trick; Kennedy Gallant of Charlottetown scored his second goal of the season, and Connor McGregor of Charlottetown contributed two assists in the Timberwolves’ 8-3 home-ice win over the Campbellton Tigers on Saturday night. Gordon was the game’s first star.
Friday night, Gallant, McGregor and defenceman Lucas MacAulay of Cardigan contributed to the Timberwolves’ 7-6 shootout win over the host Grand Falls Rapids. McGregor, who was named the game’s second star, had two goals and two assists while Gallant chipped in with a pair of assists, and MacAulay had a single helper.
McGregor, who was in a tie for third in league scoring following Saturday’s action, has 12 points, including four goals, in seven regular-season games, and Gallant improved his point total to eight in seven games. Gordon has five points – all goals – in seven games. MacAulay’s resumé this season includes two assists in six contests.
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Campbellton Tigers forward Adam Bowness, who has family connections to P.E.I., scored for the Tigers against the Timberwolves. Bowness, whose father, Todd, is a Kensington native, has four points, including two goals, in five regular-season games.
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Dylan Matthews of Mount Albion added two assists for the Valley Wildcats in a 4-3 overtime win over the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals on Friday night.
Matthews has collected five assiss in nine regular-season games.
Ethan Landry, the first overall pick in the 2020 MHL Entry Draft, scored for the Wildcats in Friday’s game versus the Capitals. Landry has family connections to Prince Edward Island. His mother, Deanna Worth Landry, is a graduate of Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, and his grandmother, Norma Worth, resides at Noonan’s Shore in Borden-Carleton.
Landry has six points, including three goals, in nine contests.
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Campbellton Tigers forward and team captain Coleton Perry of North Bedeque earned two assists in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Fredericton Red Wings on Friday night. Perry has four assists in five games.
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In Yarmouth, N.S., Kensington native and goaltender Tyler Caseley stopped 27 of 30 shots for the Amherst Ramblers in a 4-1 loss to the host Mariners on Friday. Yarmouth scored its fourth goal into an empty net. In four games this season, Caseley has a 3-1-0 record, a 1.00 goals-against average and a .964 save percentage along with two shutouts.
Jason Simmonds is The Guardian's sports reporter. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @JpsportsJason .
