There’s plenty of reasons for the Charlottetown Islanders to play with some excitement tonight.
A franchise icon is on the verge of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League history. The Islanders will wear special jerseys with players’ nicknames on the back and each Islander has selected a special song to play if they score tonight on player’s night.
The Islanders host the rival Cape Breton Eagles, one of the Canadian Hockey League’s best teams, at 7:30 p.m. at Eastlink Centre.
“If you can’t be excited about this game then I’m not sure what will ever get you excited,” head coach Jim Hulton said Thursday. “We just have to relish the moment and put our best foot forward.”
Matthew Welsh is about 50 minutes from setting the new league record for minutes played by a goaltender.
The Eagles swept back-to-back games in Charlottetown 5-2 and 8-2 on Jan. 17 and 18.
“I haven’t thought we put up a competitive fight against them, so that’s what I really want to see,” he said.
It’s a potential first-round playoff matchup and Hulton said tonight is an opportunity to prove to themselves they can play with the Eagles.
Cape Breton has a big team with some top-end skill like Egor Sokolov, Shawn Boudrias, Ryan Francis and Shawn Element.
“You can’t get fixated on the top-end guys because the strength of their team is their depth,” Hulton said, noting former Isles forward Derek Gentile and Tyler Hinam, who won a Memorial Cup a year ago with Rouyn-Noranda, sometimes play on Cape Breton’s third line.
“Our focus is going to have to be shutting them down no matter who is on the ice. Given our restrictions offensively, our key is how we play away from the puck.”
One guy who has stepped up recently for the Islanders has been fifth-year veteran Ethan Crossman.
“We’re starting to see the Crossman that we thought we were getting when we traded for him,” Hulton said. “You’re starting to see the value of his vast playoff experience.”
It’s not necessarily with goals and assists, but finishing checks, blocking shots and getting pucks out of the defensive zone and into the attacking zone.
“All the little details of the game that get simplified but magnified this time of the year,” Hulton said. “It’s nice to have a guy that has had some success leading the way.”
Two keys for the Islanders are Nikita Alexandrov and Lukas Cormier. Both missed time in late 2019 with foot injuries and have played better recently, but the bench boss sees both players being capable of getting to another level.
“Cormier has really been trending in the right direction in our eyes,” Hulton said.
He said the draft-eligible defenceman looks more confident pushing off on the foot and changing directions and his shot totals have increased during the past few weeks.
Alexandrov leads the team with 44 points in 37 games, but Hulton would like to see the centre challenge himself a little more.
“I think he’s at the stage in his career where he’s accomplished enough that he has to demand that,” he said.
Islanders’ winger Drew Johnston is questionable with a shoulder injury for tonight’s game while defenceman Brendon Clavelle is a game-time decision after recently dealing with an upper-body issue.
Charlottetown has nine games remaining in the regular season. It includes three against Cape Breton and three with the Saint John Sea Dogs, who are four points back of the Isles for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They also play Halifax, Moncton and Acadie-Bathurst once each to conclude the regular season.
