Monday, February 5, 2007

Sawyer runs amok for six points as Eagles thump tired Voltigeurs, 8-2

It was a career night for Screaming Eagles defenceman JC Sawyer, as he scored three goals and three assists to lead Cape Breton to an 8-2 thrashing of a Drummondville team that was simply out of gas in their third game in less than 48 hours.

Sawyer's six points set a new record for Eagle defencemen and came just one point short of tying Olivier Proulx's team record of seven points in a game. His three first period goals also set a record for goals by an Eagle defenceman in a single period.

Dean Ouellet also established a new team record for goals in a season by a left winger, with his second goal of the game and 32nd of the season breaking the previous mark of 31 held by Kevin Cloutier.

The opponent may have been weary, but Cape Breton still deserves credit for bouncing back as best they could from a disappointing game on Friday night against Rimouski. Unlike Friday night's game, where a slow start proved costly, the Eagles came out flying right off of the opening faceoff on Sunday, and it resulted in them taking a 4-0 first period lead and never looking back.

David Davenport earned the win in goal for the Eagles, and looked sharp in his first start in six hockey games.

The win almost came at a huge cost, however. Both Ouellet and Luc Bourdon left the game with injuries and did not return, causing quite a bit of worry in the stands. However, post-game reports indicate that neither injury is expected to be long-term, and that both players are "day to day". This is a huge relief to Eagle fans, as it always seems as though the worst injuries occur in harmless-looking blowout games like yesterday's.

Also on the injury front, the team played without leading scorer Cam Fergus yesterday, as he's nursing a minor upper body injury. Scott Brannon continues to sit out with his second concussion of the season.

With the win, Cape Breton improves to 34-17-2 for 70 points and moves to within a single point of the Moncton Wildcats for second place in the division. They have a great opportunity to overtake the Cats on Tuesday, when the teams meet head-to-head at C200. As well, it is the final home game for the Eagles on this home stand, before embarking on a very tough weekend road trip.

Dominating win for the Eagles, but the Volts didn't put up much of a fight. Hopefully the Eagles won't have too much trouble switching gears between playing a listless opponent like that, and playing an extremely gritty and in-your-face hockey club in Moncton on Tuesday ngiht.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yesterdays game was very different from Fridays. The eagles totally dominated the whole game and rarley gave the voltigeurs a chance, though at one point I was shocked they didn't get a goal when Davenport was down. I'm very happy for Sawyer, he played very well last night, and that earned him his best career game along with the defensive player of the week. Thats 2 weeks in a row the defensive player was an eagle. Hopefully for tuesday we will have Dean or Luc back. Cam would be good too, but if none of these 3 players are back, then the rest of the team will have to work together in the absence of these key players. It will be quite an intense game, and if the eagles want to move ahead, they got to come out strong right from the start. So .. GO EAGLES GO!

Anonymous said...

eagles played well,too bad bourdon went down, he looked sharp yesterday.hopefully mcilveen's goal will get him going again as well.we'll be in tough against moncton if fergus, bourdon and oullet aren't back! good luck eagles!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I was impressed with last night's game. The boys played excellently, but it was upsetting to see Dean and Luc out for the game. I would like to mention that I am SO happy to see Jc Sawyer play such a great game. 3 goals and 3 assists and first star all in one night. Surely one to remember. Way to go Jc!!! I would also like to say that I was happy to see David back in the net. He also played a great game, and I was pleased to see the boys helping him out when he was down and couldn't seem to get his footing again. I am also interested to see Mark Barberio return to Cape Breton tomorrow night. Should be a good game. Congrats boys, especially Jc on a great win. On that note, GO EAGLES GO!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Okay Eagles, this is it! The day of the taming of the Wildcat! We all know what a win will do tonight - definitely not just a game! We want to pull ahead of Moncton. It's going to be very cold outside, but let's turn up the heat inside Centre 200! I hope that Cam, Dean, and Luc are back in the lineup, but if they aren't, the rest of the team are well capable of stepping it up in their absence. I'm pretty sure the intensity level will be on high for the team, but I'm also pretty sure that Moncton's will be as well. They are definitely not going to want the Eagles to pass them in the standings! I'm predicting a hard-fought game from both sides, and one not to miss! And it's going to take the full 60 minutes of work for the Eagles - absolutely no let up! So boys, let's do it - let's tame the Wildcat! GO EAGLES GO!

Anonymous said...

Way to go eagles and JC Sawyer. WOW what a night for Sawyer 6 points. He was also good in his own end. A friend of mine is a Vincent Zoare fan and I am a Sawyer fan so we tease each other alot when one does well and the other doesn't but I think I have the upper hand now. I agree it was tough to see Dean and Luc go down but if we could only have one come back I would want Dean. Luc is best defenceman in the league but we played well in the fisrt half of the season without him and Moncton played well last year without him when he broke his leg and went to the WJHC. It would be better to have both back as well Cam and let's not forget Scott Brannon I like his sytle and work ethic. However let's not rush the four of them back. Way to go Eagles see you tonight at the game.

Anonymous said...

I personally don't care about whether they finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd going into the playoffs. Actually I'd prefer they don't finish 1st (if there is a by for first place) because I think it takes at least 2 games for a team to get their playoff form, and to skip the first round, they would be going in against a team in the 2nd round that has a lot of confidence and already in playoff form (again, only if there is a by for 1st place).

I also hope the Eagles don't continue to pull off these lopsided wins. It's great for the players who rack up the points, and yeah the team is winning, but it doesn't build work ethic and I think winning by 1 goal in close games at this time of year will prepare the team better for a playoff run.

Wins do not come easy in the playoffs, even against the lowest ranked teams. A little adversity now goes a long way in the playoffs, the only season that matters.

Inside the Nest said...

tommy- The current playoff format is such that there are no first round byes. Just thought you'd like to know!