Islanders lose 2-1 in a shootout against Baie-Comeau Drakkar

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 27, 2018

The Charlottetown Islanders lost 2-1 in a shootout with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar during a home game at the Eastlink Centre on Nov. 25.

Islanders Nikita Alexadrov, right, and Drakkar’s Samuel L’Italien wait for the puck to drop during a game at the Eastlink Centre on Nov. 25. Daniel Brown photo.

The Islanders started the game strong, with Hunter Drew scoring the first goal 1:16 into the first period. Drakkar’s Jordan Martel scored their first goal late in the second period.

In overtime, Drakkar’s goalie Kyle Jessiman stopped the Islanders from scoring anything. With 20 seconds left, crowd members gave the Islanders some suggestions as they passed the puck among each other and played the clock.

“Shoot,” was a popular opinion.

The game went into a shootout, with the shots on goal being 37 for the Islanders and 42 for Drakkar. Ivan Chekhovich was the only one to score, so Drakkar won the game.

Drew was disappointed the game ended in a shootout, he said.

“If we won I’d probably think otherwise.”

The Islanders played well, and he’s happy with the goal he scored early on, he said.

“It was a good way to start the game.”

Islanders Keith Getson is proud of how they played against Drakkar, which is one of the top teams in the league, he said.

The team needs to work on their power play, Getson said.

“We had quite a few opportunities to bury them late in the game.”

Shortly after the game started, Drew set the tone by taking the arena by surprise. He raced toward the puck and reached around his opponents trying to stop him.

He hooked it into the net, making it 1-0. The crowd went from silence to uproar.

Jessiman played well, with a number of glove saves. With two minutes left in the period, he lost his stick while the Islanders were on top of him but managed to make due.

Islanders Pierre-Oliver Joseph drew the period’s only penalty for tripping. The second period had Drakkar’s Yaroslav Alexeyev in the penalty box for hooking.

Martel ultimately scored with four and a half minutes left, taking the arena - and possibly his team - by surprise. The game was 1-1.

In the third period, both teams’ players started getting scrappier. Halfway through there was a fight between Islanders Liam Peyton and Drakkar’s D’Artagnan Joly.

Both got penalties, as well as Drakkar’s Xavier Bouchard for cross-checking.

The arena started getting anxious, cheering anytime the Islanders had the puck. The period ended with some applause-worthy saves by Islanders goalie Matthew Welsh and no scoring.

In overtime, Drakkar’s Yan Aucoin got a penalty for checking from behind.