The P.E.I. Rocket won its fourth straight game Tuesday beating the Moncton Wildcats 4-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
“That’s a huge win,” defenceman Ryan Graves said after the game. “That’s exactly the effort we need going into playoffs.”
Ben Duffy (2), Matej Beran and Graves scored.
Beran, Duffy, Louick Marcotte (2), Alexis Pepin, Deverick Ottereyes and Alex Micallef had assists. Beran has a four-game point streak, in which he has accumulated four goals and four assists.
Antoine Bibeau made 33 saves, including 17 in the first period, for the shutout. Cole Holowenko stopped 22 shots in the loss.
Bibeau now leads the league in shutouts with five and it is the team’s single-season record. Sebastien Nolet, Ryan Mior and Antoine Lafleur shared the previous high of three.
“I was just trying to keep things simple and help the team win the game,” Bibeau said of Tuesday’s effort. “I was confident and the guys played well in front of me.”
The win improves P.E.I. to 39-23-3-1. The Wildcats fall to 40-22-2-1. P.E.I. is one point back of Moncton for sixth place, but has played one more game then the Wildcats.
Moncton leading scorer Dmitri Jaskin and starting goalie Alex Dubeau did not dress, despite there being only three points between the teams before Tuesday’s game.
It didn’t impact the Rocket’s approach, Duffy said.
“We take any team the same, if they’re low in the standings (or) if they’re high in the standings, we play every game the same,” he said. “We try to stick to our game plan and outwork every team.”
The teams meet again Friday at the Civic Centre at 7 p.m.
“They’re going to come out strong. They’re going to want to win,” Bibeau said.
The Rocket wraps up the regular season Sunday at home against Saint John at 3 p.m.
