CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — It’s now or never for the Charlottetown Islanders.
The squad is looking to force a Game 7 in their first round Quebec Major Junior Hockey League series with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles with a win tonight in Sydney, N.S. Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200.
The Screaming Eagles have won the past three games to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“It’s do or die,” Islanders defenceman Hunter Drew said after Friday’s Game 5 loss. “We’re going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them, win and come back Tuesday and do the same thing.”
Game 7, if necessary, would be played Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre.
Islanders head coach Jim Hulton said he is looking for his charges to play with desperation and urgency tonight.
“We’re playing for our lives here, so we have to play our best game of the season,” he said Friday.
“This group, for whatever reason, when the shackles are off, they play better,” he added. “We can’t be tiptoeing into it. We have to be aggressive.”
The Islanders took a 2-0 series lead at home before the Screaming Eagles evened the series with a pair of home wins. Cape Breton snatched home-ice advantage away from Charlottetown with a 4-3 win Friday at the Eastlink Centre on the strength of four goals during a 12-minute stretch of the second period.
“That game is going to be a battle,” Cape Breton captain Declan Smith said of Game 6.
“It’s going to be a one-goal game – like most of our games against them. We have to come ready and we have to be prepared to outwork them. They have no quit, but neither do we, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Islanders overage forward Daniel Hardie, who has a team-leading nine points in five playoff games, said the team is expecting a loud crowd supporting their Screaming Eagles tonight.
“We’re fighting for our lives now and everybody in that room knows that,” he said Friday outside the Islanders dressing room. “I guess it's our turn to take one from them at their own rink.”
Drew, who is also in his final year of junior eligibility, said the team turned the page as soon as the buzzer sounded Friday night. The team is taking some positives from the final 20 minutes of Game 5 when it mounted a comeback to get within one goal.
“If we play like we did in the third there, then we’re obviously going to be alright for the next two (games) and win the series and move on,” Drew said.
