PORT HOOD: Two games into the first round of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League (NSMMHL) playoffs, and the Cape Breton West Islanders are two games closer to advancing to the second round.
“We had two pretty tough games, and our guys responded well to what Cape Breton had,” said Islander coach Kyle MacDonald, following a 5-2 Saturday win and a 5-3 Sunday victory over the Cape Breton Tradesmen.
“We were certainly happy with that. At the end of the day, you have to win four, and we’re well on our way to that.”
The series is a case of the regular season champs (the Islanders, at 31-5-1-1) facing the last place team in the league (the Tradesmen, winning only two of 38 regular season games). However, the Tradesmen came to the Al MacInnis Sports Centre ready to work.
In the first game, Tradesmen goalie Cody Smith faced 36 shots in the first two periods but only allowed a 2-0 Islander lead going into the third. Through the whole 60 minutes, he faced a total of 56 pucks. Goalie Colton Ellis was very steady for the Islanders, as he turned away 18 of 20 shots.
The second game saw the Tradesmen manage a two-goal lead in the second period before the Islanders pulled ahead.
“They’re pretty good defensively,” MacDonald said of the Tradesmen. “We had a lot of time on attack, and we have to look for ways to generate more offense, but things are always tighter in a playoff game. Guys are more willing to get in front of pucks and stuff like that. I think we need to simplify our game. We might be doing a little too much at times.
“They [The Tradesmen] had two good games, but we have more to give too.”
Leading the offense last Saturday was Sean Stewart, who managed two assists to compliment his late-in-the-third period goal to help secure the win. Jacob Hudson matched Stewart’s numbers, with a third period goal and two helpers.
Also contributing were Spencer Barron, a goal and an assist; Stephen Fox, two helpers; Craig Ryan and Fearghus MacDonald, both of whom scored a goal; and Calum MacPherson, having assisted on MacDonald’s goal.
The Tradesmen goals came from Dylan MacLeod and Thomas Simon.
Last Sunday’s game saw Paul Denny (shorthanded) and Kenzie MacKinnon score for the Tradesmen in the second, before Islander Logan Chisholm (from Hudson and Ryan) scored with 3:44 left. Also denting the mesh was Barron (from Hudson and Ryan MacLellan) who scored on a man-advantage with 26 seconds remaining.
The third period saw Islander Avery Warner (from Jack Morris and Malcolm MacEachern) connect with 1:39 played. Tradesman Kinnon Williams managed a power play goal five minutes later, tying the game once again.
The go-ahead goal came with 7:05 remaining as Islander Keenan Gillis skated in from the blue line and beat Smith with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Morris had a helper on the goal, as did Fox.
With 2:25 left to play, Ryan MacLellan cut down the left wing and crossed the front of the net to score a short-handed insurance goal, beating Smith on the five-hole. Jacob Stewart had a helper on the play.
With 1:28 left in the game, Stewart suffered a hit in the neutral zone that resulted in a whistle – and clearly left him hurting. Tradesman A.J. Ley was called for kneeing on the play. After the game, Coach MacDonald reported that Stewart seemed to be alright.
“He and a couple of guys took some bumps, and that’s all part of this time of the year,” MacDonald said. “You got to expect that sort of thing.”
Smith was once again awfully busy, as he faced 62 shots compared to the 25 that Islander Ewan MacDonald faced.
Next weekend, the series continues at the County Arena with the Tradesmen hosting the Islanders on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday. If necessary, game five takes place next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Port Hood.