It was definitely a night to forget for the new-look Cape Breton Screaming Eagles last night in Charlottetown, as they couldn't seem to get anything going for any real sustained period of time, and ended up dropping a surprise 3-1 decision to the PEI Rocket. The loss spoiled the debuts of new additions Luc Bourdon and Beau Prokopetz on the blueline.
The game was scoreless until about midway through the second period, when Rocket forward Brett Morrison made a great pass to point man Benoit Gervais. Gervais fired a shot through a maze of traffic that goaltender Ondrej Pavelec never did end up seeing. The shot deflected off of the skate of Rocket forward Matthew Lachaine for a 1-0 Rocket lead.
Cape Breton tied things up in the late going of the second frame, on the powerplay, as Jonathan Laberge's attempt at a cross-crease pass ended up deflecting off of the stick of Rocket defender Luciano Lommano and in. The goal was Laberge's first as a Screaming Eagle.
The game winner occurred while the Eagles were enjoying a powerplay in the third period. After some sustained pressure in the PEI end, the Rocket broke out on a two-on-two shorthanded rush, and suddenly PEI defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani found himself with all the room and all the time in the world to place his shot right inside the post, glove side on Pavelec for a 2-1 Rocket lead that they would not relinquish. Morrison would add an empty netter with seconds remaining to ice the game, a largely dull affair played on poor ice conditions.
Cape Breton seemed flat, and perhaps it had a lot to do with the lineup changes made to accomoate the new additions. In particular, there were changes made to the powerplay units. Paul McIlveen was replaced on the point on the 1st PP unit by Luc Bourdon, and was dropped back to the point on the 2nd PP unit with Oskars Bartulis. It is too early to make any real judgements on whether or not the new powerplay units are better or worse than the old ones, but last night obviously wasn't a great start.
Goaltender Pavelec seemed to be fighting the puck a bit; giving up fat rebounds on relatively routine shots, and letting a few pucks squeeze through him (although they didn't go in). If the Eagles are going to go anywhere in this year's playoffs, they really need Pavelec to regain the consistency that he showed last year, and they really need him playing with 100% confidence.
All in all, a flat game for Cape Breton, and one to forget. If any solace can be taken in last night's results, it is in the fact that the Lewiston MAINEiacs lost in overtime at home to Shawinigan. The club now sits seven points behind Lewiston in the battle for first place. On the minus side, the Moncton Wildcats defeated the St. John's Fog Devils, vaulting them two points ahead of the Eagles in the battle for third in the East Division.
It may take a little while for the team to really get used to the new faces in the lineup (and vice versa), but hopefully the result tonight in Bathurst is much better. If it isn't, however, there is no need to panic just yet. Teams often go through little slumps after "trading up", as it usualy takes a few games to find the right chemistry. Conversely, another weird trend in this league is that teams who "trade down" (trading veteran stars for younger players) often get hot for a few games after doing so; they go through a bit of a "honeymoon" period just because a few changes were made to a lineup that was struggling. For an example, witness the Saint John Sea Dogs right now. Anyhow, my point was that the first few games after trades are made often don't really make much sense. It may take a few games for our new additions to get used to their new teammates and the team's systems, and it may take a while for the coaching staff to find the correct combinations and chemistry with this new lineup. If things don't look any better a month from now, THEN feel free to worry that the trades the team made were not good trades.
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The Eagles travel to Bathurst today to try and rebound against the reeling Titan. I mention the fact that they are reeling (3-8 in their last 11 hockey games) because it is exactly what makes them a dangerous opponent tonight. They are coming off of a very embarassing 6-2 loss to the last-place Saint John Sea Dogs last night, and will likely come out very fired up to turn things around against a Cape Breton squad that handed them two defeats last weekend. Bathurst could be playing desperate hockey tonight, and the Eagles will have to match that desperation and intensity. The Titan played last night without Thomas Beauregard and Mathieu Perreault, the latter being out of the lineup for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, but they will both be back on board for Bathurst tonight.
My best guess at a starting goaltender for Bathurst is 16-year-old Antoine Tardif, as he mopped up in relief of Brant Miller last night in Saint John. For Cape Breton, maybe tonight would be a good night to go back to David Davenport.
Game time is 7:00 PM, and as always, you can listen in on AM 1270 CJCB, where Ken MacNeil will have all the play-by-play.
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4 comments:
I agree, the eagles did look flat last night. They didn't seem to be able to muster any sustainable offence. The ice didn't look at all good, but I thoght it just may have been the Camera angle. Even if it was bad the Rocket had to use the same ice. The eagles seem to have been in control having had the puck possession for most of the first period, but after PEI got the 1st goal things changed. It will no doubt take time for the new players to fit in.I think Bourdon will be something to watch. Laast night he went full ice length through all playersd, unfortunately he didn't get the shot away. Oh well, maybe tonight. I was reallt impressed with the ceremony put on for the troops, it was a class act and PEI and Eastlink should be congratulated.
Chemistry is going to be the big question mark here. The team was playing very well because they all felt like they had to contribute to win, now some guys will feel they can take it easy because the new guys will contribute so they start to lose confidence and then when its too late they will play too much like individuals and not a team which will be their demise.
Well, last night the boys just weren't fully with it. Their communication was off by a long run. Although, I must say, Luc seems to be fitting in quite well with the boys and they seem to have confidence in him. I'm glad to see him fitting in so well. Hats off to Johnathan Laberge, scoring the only Eagles goal last night. He has been playing very good games lately as well. He isn't letting a new surrounding stop him. I will be listening in on tonight's game and I am hopeing the boys will have better communication and more chemistry. I'm interested to see how Brad Gallant feels about facing Charles Bergeron once again after last weekends games. Should be interesting. Umm, lastly I would like to add that I would personally like to see David Davenport on the ice tonight. He played so well while Ondrej was away. I think he should be in the net again! Lets Go Eagles, Lets Show Those Titans What We're Made Of!!!!!!!!!!GO EAGLES GO!!!!!
It is interesting to see how only gaining one additional forward the chemistry is having a hard time picking up from where it left off pre-trade period. I don't think it was a good idea to move Mcilveen off the first pp unit which has done so well for the eagles since the beginning of the season. Some are puzzled as to why the top line hasn't got a point in two games. To me it's an easy one. You take your number two point scorer, and top ten in the entire league, off any special team and reduce him to a second line power play. Second unit gets a 1/4th of the time the first unit does and that first unit pp was where the top line scored a good majority of their points. I am just not impressed right now. Kid shouldn't be snubbed for playing nothing but consistent and good for this team.
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