McDonald’s 40 saves not enough for Islanders in 6-2 loss to Sagueneens

The bounces weren’t in the Charlottetown Islanders’ favour Friday night in a 6-2 loss to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens at Eastlink Centre.

“It sucks,” said Islanders netminder Mason McDonald who made 40 saves in the loss. “Coming out with some momentum from last night we expected big things. We came out flat and I didn’t think we played to our full potential.”

The Islanders fall to 25-21-1-3 on the season after beating the league’s fourth best team 24 hours earlier. The 16th place Sagueneens improve to 20-21-3-2.

Islanders forward Daniel Sprong scored a pair of goals for the Islanders. He said Chicoutimi isn’t a bad team.

“They work hard and we knew that coming in. They’re in 16th place but they don’t play like a team that’s in 16th place. We got outworked today and that’s it.”

McDonald said the loss wasn’t a case over confidence for the Islanders.

“I think we just came out flat. After that third goal it took the momentum out of the team and the building and from there it went down hill.”

It’s a disappointing atmosphere in the dressing room after a loss like that, said Sprong.

“We got embarrassed at home. They outworked us. We got to to get back to work and get ready for our Quebec road trip.”

Thompson suspended one game

Will Thompson. Photo by Darrell Theriault.

Charlottetown Islanders defenceman Will Thompson has been suspended one game by the QMJHL today.

Thompson, 17, receives his one game suspension for code 4.19 of the league's rule book which reads "taking off one's own helmet or pull of an opponent's helmet." The incident occurred last night against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Thompson was assessed a five-minute major and a double game misconduct on the play.

The Fredericton, N.B., native has one goal and five points in 49 games with the Islanders this season.

Thompson will sit out Charlottetown's game against Chicoutimi tonight at 7 p.m. He is eligible to return to the lineup Thursday Feb.5, 2015 in Shawinigan.

Islanders Country launches IslesVault

IslesVault is here!

Go back in time to 1999 as the original Montreal Rocket franchise to see the franchise's first win, first goal, first penalty, all-time leaders and stats, all-time jersey numbers, record holders and much more!

The site is still a work in progress, but it was launched so Islanders fans can get all the history and information they want to know.

Click here to visit IslesVault!

Game day: Sagueneens @ Islanders

Date: Friday Jan. 30, 2015

Match: Chicoutimi Sagueneens @ Charlottetown Islanders

Where: Eastlink Centre, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Time: 7 p.m. AST

TV: Webcast

Live Tweets: IslesLive

Pre-game stats:

Last meeting this season:	Dec. 11, CHA 5 @ CHI 8
Next game between two teams:	No more meetings
Head-to-head record this season:	Chicoutimi 1-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-0
Head-to-head record for 2013-14:	Charlottetown 1-1-0-0, Chicoutimi 1-1-0-0
Last 5 years between teams:	Charlottetown 6-5-0-0, Chicoutimi 5-3-2-1
Last 5 years at Charlottetown:	Charlottetown 4-1-0-0, Chicoutimi 1-3-0-1

Islanders skate to 5-1 win over Drakkar

A four-goal second period and some lucky bounces helped the Charlottetown Islanders to a 5-1 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Thursday night at Eastlink Centre.

Islanders defenceman Guillaume Rioux-Legault scored the game winning goal at 12:40 of the second period to help the Islanders improve to 25-20-1-3 on the season. The Drakkar snaps a five-game winning streak and falls to 27-14-5-2.

The win feels good, said Rioux-Legault.

“We just came back from a big road trip in Quebec and feels good to come out with a big two points tonight.”

The team started off slow in the second period but rebounded at the mid-way point, said Rioux-Legault.

“We just talked and said we should go back to simple things and it worked.”

Coming into the game, the Drakkar was ranked No. 10 in the most recent BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Rioux-Legault said it is a huge win and shows a lot of character from the Islanders.

“We can beat any team in this league so far.”

Game day: Drakkar @ Islanders

Date: Thursday Jan. 29, 2015

Match: Baie-Comeau Drakkar @ Charlottetown Islanders

Where: Eastlink Centre, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Time: 7 p.m. AST

TV: Webcast

Live Tweets: IslesLive

Pre-game stats:

Last meeting this season:	Dec. 12, CHA 0 @ BaC 5
Next game between two teams:	No more meetings
Head-to-head record this season:	Baie-Comeau 1-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-0
Head-to-head record for 2013-14:	Baie-Comeau 2-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-1
Last 5 years between teams:	Baie-Comeau 8-2-0-0, Charlottetown 2-6-1-1
Last 5 years at Charlottetown:	Charlottetown 2-0-1-1, Baie-Comeau, 2-2-0-0

Regular Season Stats	Baie-Comeau Drakkar	Charlottetown Islanders
Record	27-13-5-2	24-20-1-3
Points	61	52
Standing	2nd East/4th QMJHL	3rd Maritimes/9th QMJHL
Goals For	166	154
Goals Against	152	169
Last 10 games	7-2-1-0	5-3-0-2
Streak	5-0-0-0	0-1-0-0
Last game	Jan. 25, 6-3 W vs. Rouyn-Noranda	Jan. 24, 5-1 L @ Acadie-Bathurst
Home record	19-3-1-1	14-7-1-2
Road record	8-10-4-1	10-13-0-1
Record scoring first	20-3-3-0	16-4-0-1
Giving up first goal	7-10-2-2	8-16-1-2
Power play	7th - 47/205, 22.9 %	10th - 41/190, 21.6 %
Penalty kill	3rd - 203/245, 82.9 %	5th - 168/209, 80.4 %
Points Leader	Maxime St-Cyr (40-21-61)	Daniel Sprong (22-32-54)
Goals Leader	Maxime St-Cyr - 40 G	Alexandre Goulet - 28 G
Assists Leader	Frederic Gamelin - 45 A	Daniel Sprong - 32 A
PIM Leader	Nicolas Leblond - 109 PIM	Quinn O’Brien - 95 PIM
Rookie Leader	Simon Chevrier (9-10-19)	Filip Chlapik (23-29-52)
Goalie, Best GAA (600+MINS)	Philippe Cadorette - 3.06 GAA	Mason McDonald - 2.94 GAA
Goalie, Best Save% 600+MINS	Philippe Cadorette - 0.902 Save %	Mason McDonald - 0.905 Save %

Cool facts:

-All-time record since 1999 vs. Drakkar: 19-18-4-2-2 (W-L-OTL-SOL-T) for 46 points.

-All-time home record since 1999 vs. Drakkar: 13-4-5 (W-L-O/SL) for 31 points.

Artifacts:

Jan. 29 in history

2GP (1-1-0-0)

2006: 5-2 Win vs. Halifax

2008: 5-3 Loss. vs. Saint John

Rydstrom sidelined for six weeks with lower-body injury

Filip Rydstrom. Photo by Darrell Theriault.

Charlottetown Islanders forward Filip Rydstrom will be out of the lineup for at least six weeks with a broken ankle.

Rydstrom, 18, was injured in the first 17 seconds of Friday’s game against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and had surgery over the weekend. It could be six weeks or the rest of the season for Rydstrom.

In a team press release, Islanders General Manager Grant Sonier said the big-bodied centreman has come to Charlottetown and has done everything the team wanted him to do.

“Now his teammates are going to have to pick up the slack. We’ll find a way to rally around him being out.”

The six-foot-three, 202-pound Swedish native was the Islanders’ 71st overall pick in the 2014 CHL Import Draft. In 47 games, he has five goals and 17 points with 36 penalty minutes and a minus-one rating.

The Islanders have not called up any players up at this time.

Quick Recap: Titan pulls out 5-1 win over Islanders on Saturday

Saturday Jan. 24 - Acadie-Bathurst Titan rookie Jordan Maher scored his first career hat-trick to lead the Titan to a 5-1 win over the visiting Charlottetown Islanders Saturday night at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst, N.B.

Andrew Ryan (1-4) and Jeffrey Truchon-Viel (1-1) also scored for the Titan who improves to 14-31-4-2 on the season after a shootout loss to Moncton today.

Ryan MacKinnon scored the lone goal for Charlottetown who snaps a four-game winning streak and are now 24-20-1-3 on the season.

Scoring Summary:
First Period
Bathurst: Jordan Maher, (10) (Guillaume Brisebois, Andrew Ryan), 5:07 (PP)
Bathurst:Jeffrey Truchon-Viel, (8) (Andrew Ryan, Guillaume Brisebois), 18:52
Shots: 15-15

Second Period
Bathurst: Jordan Maher, (11) (Jeffrey Truchon-Viel, Andrew Ryan), 11:12
Shots: 12-9 Charlottetown

Third Period
Charlottetown: Ryan MacKinnon, (8) (Daniel Sprong, Dexter Weber), 1:59 (PP)
Bathurst: Andrew Ryan, (15) (Reilly Pickard), 16:45
Bathurst: Jordan Maher, (12) (Nicolas Latulippe, Andrew Ryan), 18:01
Shots: 16-8 Charlottetown

Goaltenders
Charlottetown: Daryl MacCallum, Loss, 27/32
Bathurst: Reilly Pickard, Win, 42/43

Islanders host the Baie-Comeau Drakkar Thursday Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.

Chlapik scores late goal as Islanders down Titan 2-1

Filip Chlapik’s fluke goal with 1:40 left on the clock is what the Charlottetown Islanders needed in a 2-1 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan Friday night at Eastlink Centre.

Chlapik fired a harmless looking shot before it hit off a Titan player’s skate and then into the back of the net.

“I just took the puck and put it at the net and it was a lucky bounce and it was a goal,” said Chlapik on his 23rd goal of the season. “It’s an important two points for us.”

The Islanders are now on its third four-game winning streak of the season and improve to 24-19-1-3. The Titan drops its sixth straight and falls to 13-31-4-1.

“We didn’t have our best game but it’s nice to get the two points,” said Islanders forward Spenser Cobbold.

It feels great to be on another winning streak, said Cobbold.

“Hopefully we can just keep it going right now.”

BMO Top Prospects Game: Team Orr skates to 6-0 win over Team Cherry

Team Orr celebrates its win. Photo by Aaron Bell.

Travis Konecny and Timo Meier each had three points to lead Team Orr to a 6-0 win over Team Cherry Thursday night at the BMO Top Prospects Game in St. Catharine's, Ont.

Konency, of the OHL's Ottawa 67's, scored a paired of goals and added an assist. Meier of the Halifax Mooseheads scored a goal and picked up a pair of assists.

Charlottetown Islanders forwards Daniel Sprong and Filip Chlapik were held pointless with minus ratings. Sprong was a minus-one, while Chlapik was a minus-two.

Team Orr opened the scoring at 12:30 with Ryan Pilon (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL) scoring an unassisted tally.

Meier made it a 2-0 game at 19:46 with Connor McDavid (Erie Otters, OHL) and Konecny drawing assists.

Shots were 14-8 in favour of Team Orr.

The second period was scoreless, but Team Cherry had a 10-5 shot advantage. Team Cherry starter Samuel Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) was replaced by Michael McNiven (Owen Sound Attack, OHL). Team Orr made a goalie change also as Liam Herbst (Ottawa 67's, OHL) replaced starter Nick McBride (Prince Albert Raiders, WHL).

Game day: Titan @ Islanders

Date: Friday Jan. 23, 2015

Match: Acadie-Bathurst Titan @ Charlottetown Islanders

Where: Eastlink Centre, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Time: 7 p.m. AST

TV: Webcast

Live Tweets: IslesLive

Pre-game stats:

Last meeting this season:	Dec. 28, BAT 1 @ CHA 4
Next game between two teams:	Saturday Jan. 24 in Bathurst
Head-to-head record this season:	Charlottetown 4-1-0-0, Acadie-Bathurst 1-4-0-0
Head-to-head record for 2013-14:	Acadie-Bathurst 6-3-0-0, Charlottetown 3-5-0-1
Last 5 years between teams:	Acadie-Bathurst 21-14-3-0, Charlottetown 17-16-1-4
Last 5 years at Charlottetown:	Charlottetown 10-9-0-1, Acadie-Bathurst 10-9-1-0

Pair of Islanders in Top Prospects Game action tonight

Daniel Sprong. Photo by Natasa Djermanovic.

A pair of Charlottetown Islanders forwards, and top prospects for the upcoming 2015 NHL Entry Draft, will be representing Team Cherry tonight at the 2015 BMO Top Prospects Game in St. Catharine's, Ont.

Daniel Sprong and Filip Chlapik will play against Team Orr at 8 p.m. AST broadcasted live in Sportsnet.

It is the second straight year the Islanders will be represented at the annual event. Mason McDonald suited up for Team Orr last season, but was named to the team while a member of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

McDonald named Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week

Mason McDonald. Photo by Darrell Theriault.

After being named the QMJHL 's second star of the week, Charlottetown Islanders goaltender Mason McDonald received national honours by being named the Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week today.

The period is for the week ending Jan. 18, 2015.

McDonald helped the Islanders pick up two of its three wins over the weekend on the road in Quebec.  In those two wins, McDonald posted a shutout and stopped 67 of 69 shots fired his way for a 1.00 goals against average and a 0.971 save percentage.

On Friday in Sherbrooke, McDonald made 31 saves to earn first-star honours as he posted his first shutout of the season and as an Islander. On Sunday in Quebec City, McDonald made 36 saves against the Remparts in a 3-2 win.

Islanders on NHL CSS Midterm Rankings

Daniel Sprong. Photo by: Darrell Theriault.

Earlier this afternoon the NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its midterm rankings for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft which takes place late June in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Top 10 sees: Connor McDavid (Erie, OHL), Jack Eichel (Boston University), Noah Hanifin (Boston College), Lawson Crouse (Kingston, OHL), Dylan Strome (Erie, OHL),  Zachary Werenski (University of Michigan), Mitchell Marner (London, OHL), Pavel Zacha (Sarnia, OHL) Matthew Barzal (Seattle, WHL) and Ivan Provorov (Brandon, WHL)

Five Charlottetown Islanders players made the midterm ranking including:

Filip Chlapik, 17th
Daniel Sprong, 20th
Kameron Kiellym 80th
David Henley, 99th
Alexandre Goulet, 163rd

McDonald named second star of the week

Photo credit: Darrell Theriault.

Charlottetown Islanders goaltender Mason McDonald was named the QMJHL's second star of the week yesterday.

The week is for Jan. 12-18.

The 18-year-old, Halifax, N.S., native won both games he started this weekend, including one shutout. He maintained a 1.00 goals against average and a 0.971 save percentage.

On Friday against the Sherbrooke Phoenix, McDonald was name the game's first star stopping all 31 shots for his first shutout as an Islander and of the season. On Sunday, McDonald made 36 saves in a 3-2 win over the Quebec Remparts.

McDonald currently sits sixth among goaltenders with a 2.99 goals against average. His save percentage has him third amongst goalies with a 0.904 save percentage.

This is the second time this season McDonald has been named a star of the week. The last time was the week of Nov. 10-16, 2014.

Anthony Beauvillier of the Shawinigan Cataractes was the first star of the week and Val-d'Or Foruers forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel was the third star of the week.

Islanders wrap up road trip with 3-2 win over Remparts

The Charlottetown Islanders did the unthinkable this weekend and won all three games during its three-in-three road trip thought the province of Quebec.

Filip Chlapik scored the winning goal Sunday evening as the Islanders picked up a 3-2 win over the Quebec Remparts.

With the successful road trip, the Islanders head back home with a 23-19-1-3 record with 50 points. The Memorial Cup host Remparts fall to 26-17-1-2 on the season.

The last time the Islanders franchise won all three games during a Quebec-based road trip was in the 2010-11 season as the P.E.I. Rocket. The Rocket won three games in four nights.

Islanders forward Alexandre Goulet continued his hot hand, picking up a goal and an assist in the victory. The 18-year-old scored four goals and seven points during the three-game road swing.

It didn’t take long for the Remparts to open the scoring as Nikolas Brouillard cashed in at 2:53 for his 10th of the season. Guillaume Gauthier and Dmytro Timashov drew assists.

Goulet, Islanders spank Tigres 8-4

VICTORIAVILLE, QUE. - Alexandre Goulet scored a pair of goals and assists to lead the visiting Charlottetown Islanders to an 8-4 win over the Victoriaville Tigres Saturday night.

Goulet was not the only Islanders player to have a multi-point night as Ross Johnston (2-1), Filip Chlapik (2-1), Ryan MacKinnon (1-2) and Daniel Sprong (0-3) picked up three points to lead Charlottetown to its second-straight won if its three-game road trip.

The Islanders are now 22-19-1-3 on the season. The Tigres fall to 21-20-1-4.

Goulet opened the scoring at the 7:21 mark of the first period with an unassisted goal for his 26th of the season.

Charlottetown took a 2-0 lead with a power play goal from MacKinnon at 16:22. The goal was the Islanders captain’s seventh of the season. Sprong and Goulet drew helpers.

Shots were 14-7 in favour of Charlottetown.

In the second period, the Islanders made it a 3-0 game at 2:15 with Chlapik’s 20th goal of the season. MacKinnon and Guillaume Rioux-Legault drew assists.

Spenser Cobbold made it 4-0 Islanders at 4:19 with his sixth of the season with Johnston picking up the lone assist.

McDonald, Islanders shutout Phoenix

SHERBROOKE, QUE. - Mason McDonald picked up his first shutout in a Charlottetown Islanders uniform Friday night, making 31 saves to backstop the Islanders to a 2-0 win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix.

The shutout is McDonald’s second of his career which helps the Islanders improve to 21-19-1-3 on the season. Sherbrooke falls to 23-16-1-3.

McDonald last recorded a shutout with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Jan. 27, 2013. Since being acquired by the Islanders, it took the 18-year-old, Halifax, N.S., native 54 games and 3,093:26 of playing time to get the achievement with Charlottetown.

Game day: Islanders @ Phoenix

Date: Friday Jan. 16, 2015

Match: Charlottetown Islanders @ Sherbrooke Phoenix

Where: Palais des Sports Leopold-Drolet, Sherbrooke, Que.

Time: 8 p.m. AST

TV: Webcast

Live Tweets: IslesLive

Pre-game stats:

Last meeting this season:	Nov. 28, SHE 3 @ CHA 2
Next game between two teams:	No more meetings
Head-to-head record this season:	Sherbrooke 1-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-0
Head-to-head record for 2013-14:	Sherbrooke 2-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-1
Last 5 years between teams:	Sherbrooke 3-1-0-1, Charlottetown 2-2-0-1
Last 5 years at Sherbrooke:	Charlottetown 1-1-0-0, Sherbrooke 1-0-0-1

Charlottetown Islanders December Analysis Part 2

By: Nathan A'Hearn
Follow him @TheTermiNathan

Photo credit: Darrell Theriault.

Were the Islanders' wins this month a factor of luck in percentages or driven by an improvement in play with stronger possession?  I'm thinking it's the latter.  Below we are going to take a look at Shot Differential, Estimated Fenwick (Courtesy of CHLStats.com and myself) and PDO (Calculated by CHLStats.com)

Shot Differential:

In Wins: 67.2 per cent

In Losses: 38.25 per cent

Overall Charlottetown dictated the play in the first period in December.  This really shows itself in wins where the Islanders had more than two thirds of all shots in the first period.  If you are getting most of the shots you are controlling the puck most of the time and this results in goals.

Islanders fall short in 4-3 shootout loss to Olympiques

The Gatineau Olympiques erased a 2-0 deficit en route to a 4-3 shootout win over the Charlottetown Islanders Saturday night at Eastlink Centre.

Joey Richard scored the winning shootout goal as the Olympiques’ snap an eight-game losing streak and improve to 16-24-0-4 on the season. The Islanders drop its second straight game in the shootout and are now 20-19-1-3.

“It’s a tough loss obviously,” said Islanders assistant Kameron Kielly. “Bounces happen like that but overall we’re happy with the way we played.”

The team played a great 60 minutes, said Kielly.

“Good weekend in general but it sucks. Hockey is a game of bounces and they just weren’t coming our way.”

Two back-to-back shootout losses hurt, said Kielly.

“It’s just the matter of the game. It sucks it comes down to a shootout sometimes but that’s the way it is.”

For the 18-year-old Charlottetown native, it was his fourth time playing the Olympiques since being traded from Gatineau to Charlottetown in August of 2013.

It was a high-emotion game, said Kielly.

“It’s fun playing them. I wasn’t as nervous as my first time but to score against them felt pretty good actually.”