Newfoundland Regiment fans got a great gift on Easter Sunday, as their beloved hockey team advanced to the second round of the Gilles-Courteau Playoffs, and defeated the Cape Breton Eagles in six games.
Split first two games
As mentioned in a previous article, the Newfoundland Regiment split the opening two games of this series.
It entered game one with high expectations, but it was an uncharacteristically underwhelming performance for the team, falling 3-2.
Justin Larose scored the first playoff goal in franchise history, but the team was outmatched, especially in the third period, where Cape Breton’s Caden Kelly netted the game winner, giving the Eagles a 1-0 series lead.
Newfoundland was looking to exact revenge the day after and ensure they weren’t going to Cape Breton down 2-0.
They came out swinging with a goal in the first five minutes of the game from Blake Pilgrim-Edwards. They would continue to add in the second period, as Dawson Sharkey and Justin Larose extended their lead to 3-0.
Momentum seemingly shifted to Cape Breton midway through the period when Dawson Sharkey got a game misconduct for a blindside hit (also leading to a two game suspension), giving the Eagles a five minute powerplay, where Reece Peitzsche would capitalize, before Raoul Boilard got the Eagles within one before the period’s end.
Newfoundland would ultimately run away with this one, dominating the third period with three goals, and winning game two 6-2, tying the series 1-1.
Won two-of-three road games
With that, the series shifted to Cape Breton, where Newfoundland played three games in a row in enemy territory.
It was a perfect start for Cape Breton, which scored 25 seconds into the game, and led for most of the third period, before Alexis Michaud scored his first of the playoffs in the final 15 seconds of the period.
Newfoundland added two more in the second period, thanks to Benjamin Veitch and Tyson Goguen. Cape Breton would score later in the period, but were ultimately shut down after Marek Danicek got a late third period insurance goal, suring up the 4-2 win for the Regiment.
Entering game four up 2-1, Newfoundland was looking to extend their series lead to 3-1, and that they did.
After a 1-1 first period, Ryan Dwyer scored his first career playoff goal early in the second to give Newfoundland a 2-1 lead, before Louis-François Bélanger added insurance late in the period. Newfoundland would score twice more in the third, giving them a blowout 5-1 win.
Newfoundland had the chance to win the series on the road in game five.
It scored three goals in the first period, including a goal from Benjamin Veitch, assisted by Quinn Norman, both of whom are rookies and the only NLers on the team.
Cape Breton nabbed a goal late in the first period, before Newfoundland scored another in the second, meaning Newfoundland entered the third in complete control and 20 minutes away from advancing to the second round.
But in a shocking turn of events, all within the last 12 minutes of the period, Newfoundland gave up three unanswered goals, as Cape Breton tied the game 4-4 and force overtime, where Maxime Sauthier would score the game winner for the Eagles 22 seconds into the frame, sending the series back to St. John’s.
First ever NL-based QMJHL team to win a playoff series
After the frustration of blowing their late third period lead and squandering their chances of ending the series, Newfoundland entered game six determined to finish the job.
Dawson Sharkey gave Newfoundland a ton of momentum early, as he scored in the opening minute of the game. Reece Peitzsche would tie the game for Cape Breton midway through the period, before Tyson Goguen scored a late first period goal to give Newfoundland a 2-1 lead.
The game got out of control in the second. Newfoundland score four unanswered goals, extending their lead to 6-1 after 40 minutes.
While the Eagles scored twice more in the third, this time, their deficit was too large to overcome, as Newfoundland would go on to score an empty netter and win the game 7-3, giving them a 4-2 series win.
After the series, head coach and general manager Gordie Dwyer said “I like the way our team responded after the last game, coming home and a big Easter Sunday crowd here at the Mary Brown’s Centre, so great to see the building alive and electric, and I really like how our team came out [to play].”
Newfoundland’s round two match-up will be determined on tonight.
