Islanders beat the Phoenix in overtime
The Islanders remained hot on Saturday afternoon, besting the Sherbrooke Phoenix in overtime.
The Isles were coming off a win on Friday night against the Victoriaville Tigres, and looked to carry their momentum over into Saturday.
It didn’t take long for the Isles to light the lamp in this one, as just under five minutes into the first period forward Nikita Alexandrov finished off a play from teammates Sam King and Marcel Berube, beating Sherbrooke starter Brendan Cregan to give the Isle an early lead.
The lead was short lived though, as less than two minutes later Sherbrooke answered back with a goal of their own.
On a broken play Phoenix forward Felix Robert found the loose puck and fired a shot past Isles starter Matthew Welsh for his seventh goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later the Alexandrov line stuck again.
After a P.O. Joseph shot caused a rebound, Alexandrov found the puck on his stick and he scored his second goal of the game.
In the closing minutes the period, Sherbrooke’s Kevin Gilbert tied the game with a power play goal.
After 20 minutes of action the score was tied 2-2.
At the 6:53 mark of the second period Gilbert scored again for the Phoenix, giving his team the lead.
After a second period of physical play, the teams entered the second intermission with Sherbrooke leading, 3-2 outshooting the Islanders 28-11.
Five minutes into the third period Islanders forward Keith Getson fired a shot from the slot, beating Cregan over the shoulder, tying the game.
Less than a minute later, Alexandrov scored his third goal of the game giving the Isles the lead.
Sherbrooke forward Nicolas Poulin would tie the game at 12:21 of the third period sending the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, after chances for Saku Vesterinen and Alexandrov in front, Matthew Grouchy slide the loose puck passed Cregan to win the game for the Isles.
The Islanders have now won 8 of their last 9 games, with Head Coach Jim Hulton praised his team’s resiliency against the Phoenix.
“It was yet another high character win by this resilient group. [Matt] Welsh was outstanding and gave us a chance to find our legs as the game progressed.”
Saturday’s win also marked a major milestone for one of the Islanders young stars, said Huton.
“Today was the much anticipated breakout game by Nikita Alexandrov.”
Alexandrov scored the first three goals of his QMJHL career, before adding an assist on the overtime winner.
The Isles quick Quebec road-trip concludes on Sunday in Drummondville against the Voltigeurs. Puck-drop for that one is set for 3 pm EST.