Preview: November 5 vs Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
November 5, 2022 – Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – Charlottetown Islanders News Release
The Charlottetown Islanders are in the midst of a five-game home stand and have kicked it off on the right foot. They play their third game in a row at the Eastlink Centre tonight when they take on the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in their first matchup of the season.
Charlottetown (7-7-1-0) sent the Eastlink Centre crowd home happy with an exciting effort Thursday night against the Moncton Wildcats. Antoine Michaud scored the game-winning goal with just under three minutes left to go in regulation as the Isles defeated the Wildcats 3-2. Marcus Kearsey and Jeremie Biakabutuka picked up two assists while Michael Horth scored his team-leading 9th goal of the season. Francesco Lapenna was excellent once again, making 37 saves for the victory.
On the injury front, the Islanders received some positive news as Will Allen has been upgraded to a game-time decision. He will hopefully be available for the Islanders along with forward Sam Bowness, who served the second game of a two-game suspension for a staged fight in his last game against the Rimouski Oceanic. Owen Hollingsworth and Isaac Vos, however, remain out of the lineup.
For the Armada (7-7-0-1), they’ll look to get back in the win column after dropping the first game of their Maritime road trip last night 5-3 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. It hasn’t been an ideal to the season for a young team that many expected to be one of the strongest in the QMJHL’s Western Conference; last night’s defeat makes it four losses in their past five games.
Two bright spots for the Armada have been the play of Jonathan Fauchon and Alexis Gendron. The duo are both firmly in the top 25 of the QMJHL points race; Gendron, to his credit, is tied for fifth among all players with 12 goals on the season. The pair have been the proverbial linchpins to the Armada offense thus far this season.
This will be the first time that PEI products Zach Biggar and Colby Huggan visit the Eastlink Centre this season. Biggar spent plenty of time in Charlottetown last season as a member of the Titan; for Huggan, this will be just his second game in front of his hometown crowd.
Charlottetown exorcised past demons against Blainville-Boisbriand last season, defeating the Armada in both matchups against their one-time playoff rivals. Prior to last season, the Islanders had not defeated the Armada in regular season play since March 4th, 2017.
You can still get tickets for tonight’s game by visiting the Eastlink Centre box office, by phone at 902-629-6625, or online. As is Saturday tradition, it’s Cyber Saturday! Use promo code FLANAGAN online and receive 35% off your ticket for tonight’s game!
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