It was a game the Saint John Sea Dogs let slip away.
Charlottetown Islanders forward Alexandre Goulet scored the game winning goal with 2:09 left in the third period to add to a five-point night as the Charlottetown Islanders took a 6-5 decision over the visiting Sea Dogs Thursday night at Eastlink Centre.
The Islanders trailed 2-0 after the first period and 4-2 going into the third period.
The team battled hard in the third period, said Goulet.
“We showed some character and it was a huge win for our club tonight.”
Putting pucks on net was key to the team’s comeback, said Goulet.
“Playing hard in our zone and I think that was our success for tonight.”
It felt good to pick up five points, said Goulet.
“It couldn’t do it without my teammates. We are playing good together, Me and (Filip) Chlapik and Bradley (Kennedy). It’s a team effort.”
Islanders forward Filip Chlapik, who was named the game’s second star with two goals and two assists, said the team had a slow start.
“The first period was terrible by us. After we say something in the locker room we started going and sticking to our system and it was better and better and a nice win for us.”
The Islanders improve to 14-12-1-1 on the season as the Sea Dogs fall to 15-6-1-3.
Saint John opened the scoring at the 9:35 mark of the opening frame with Thomas Chabot’s sixth goal of the season. Moments later, Samuel Dove-McFalls’ ninth of the season made it 2-0 Saint John at 13:37. Shots were 14-7 in favour of Saint John.
In the second period, it looked like the Islanders were on the board when Luc Deschenes scored on a breakaway after coming out of the penalty box at 5:04. The goal was ruled no-goal as the play was offside.
The Islanders got the goal back with Chalpik’s 14th of the season at 9:55 to make it 2-1. Bradley Kennedy and Goulet drew assists. The Sea Dogs responded just under two minutes later with Nathan Noel’s 11th of the season.
Goulet buried his 11th of the season on the power play at 13:41 to make it a 3-2 game. Chlapik and Ryan MacKinnon drew assists.
Saint John responded with a power play goal of their own at 16:48 from Matthew Highmore, his fifth of the season.
Shots in the second were 18-15 in favour of Charlottetown.
In the third period, Kennedy scored his seventh of the season at 3:24 to make it a 4-3 Sea Dogs game. Goulet and David Henley drew assists.
Mitchell Dempsey nearly made it 5-3 just moments later when he took advantage of a Mason McDonald miscue and hit the left post on a wide empty net during a power play.
Ross Johnston found the back of the net for his first goal of the season and first as an Islander at 5:33 to tie the game 4-4. Oliver Cooper drew the lone assist.
The Sea Dogs regained the lead with Mathieu Joseph’s seventh goal of the season at 11:18.
Chlapik responded just 1:22 later with his second of the game and 15th goal of the season. Goulet and MacKinnon drew assists.
Goulet gave the Islanders their first lead of the game at 17:51 with his 12th goal of the season and fifth point of the night. Chlapik and Guillaume Rioux-Legault drew assists.
Chlapik was behind the net and threw the pass in front of the net to Goulet to score the game winning goal.
“(Chlapik) just passed me the puck right onto the tape. He has good vision and put the puck right on my tape and I just had to shoot it on net,” said Goulet on the goal.
McDonald made 31 saves in the winning goal for Charlottetown. Sebastien Auger took the loss for Saint John stopping 32 shots.
The Islanders next game is tomorrow when they host the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
Starting strong will be key, said Goulet.
“We need a better start in the first period.”
Puck drops at 7 p.m. AST.
Islanders Insights:
-Islanders out-hit the Sea Dogs 15-13.
-Ross Johnston led the game with four hits.
-Charlottetown was 1-for-6 six on the power play while going 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
-Kameron Kielly was 11-for-16 in the face-off dot.
-Alexandre Goulet is the second Charlottetown Islanders player this season to record five points in one game.
-Goulet was game-high plus-four.
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