Monday, May 30, 2022

Islanders advance to President Cup final

Embed from Getty Images
At long last, the Charlottetown Islanders have advanced to the President Cup final.

After coming up just short last season in the Quebec City bubble, the Islanders advanced to the QMJHL final for the first time in their history Monday night, defeating the Sherbrooke Phoenix 4-3 to win the semifinal series 3-1.
Charlottetown will play the winner of Wednesday's Game 5 between the Shawinigan Cataractes and Quebec Remparts. The Cataractes forced a fifth and final game with a 3-2 overtime victory on home ice Monday.

The Islanders carried a commanding 4-1 lead late into the second period - but then momentum changed. Charlottetown's Xavier Simoneau was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for a check from behind on Xavier Parent at 19:11 of the second, giving Sherbrooke a lengthy power play to start the third period with.
Parent scored on the man advantage just 28 seconds into the third and scored another not long after even strength play resumed at 4:15, making it a 4-3 match. Charlottetown netminder Francesco Lapenna was sensational in a final frame that saw the Phoenix outshoot the Islanders 21-4.

Former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Stairs had one assist in the victory. Joshua Roy, meanwhile, had a goal, two assists and eight shots in the loss. The Montreal Canadiens prospect finishes the playoffs with eight goals and 15 assists in 11 games.

This was the fourth time since 2017 that the Islanders had reached the QMJHL's final four. They dropped all three previous series.

In the Ontario Hockey League, the Hamilton Bulldogs are waiting on the winner of the Western Conference final between the Windsor Spitfires and Flint Firebirds. The Firebirds lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Tuesday's Game 6 in Flint.

In the Western Hockey League, the winner of Tuesday's Game 7 between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers will face the Edmonton Oil Kings in the championship series.

No comments:

Post a Comment