Islanders Win Nail-Biter Against Saints

The Delta Islanders visited the PoCo Rec Centre on Friday night to take on the Port Coquitlam Saints. The Islanders were looking to get back to their winning ways after a loss to the Victoria Shamrocks while the Port Coquitlam Saints just look to get out of last place.

The Saints got off to a good start in the first period when Connor Goodwin scored 28 seconds in. Saints' Pierce Watson made it 2-0 Saints at 6:05, but 50 seconds later, Jonathan Phillips got the Islanders on the board.

Islanders' Connor Davidson got called for high sticking at 11:22, which led to an extremely quick Saints power play goal when Tanner Fisher scored 10 seconds into the power play to make it 3-1 Saints.

The Saints received their first penalty at 12:37 when Nathan Marken got four minutes for checking from behind. The Islanders couldn't get anything going on the power play, but the Saints were able to short handed. Even getting double teamed, Quinton Pavan broke through and netted his first of the game to give the Saints a 4-1 lead.

The Islanders got back into the game when Sam Klingsporn fed Brad Hofmann on a 2-on-1 and Hofmann made no mistake giving the Islanders their second goal of the game at 17:18.

The second period saw a bit more action than the first period. Just like the first period, the Saints got off to a good start when Matt Symes scored his first goal as a Saint 44 seconds in to make it 5-2 Saints.

With Saints' Trevor Wiseman in the box for holding, Islanders' Spencer Bromley netted his second of the game at 3:33, but just under a minute later, Saints' Tre Mason scored to make it 6-3 Saints and that was the end of Islanders' goaltender Matt Keith as Ryland Hood took over the crease and it proved to be a great move.

Chase Fraser scored for the Islanders at 6:25, which was followed by a Mike Avery checking from behind penalty, but on the penalty kill, Klingsporn saw Fraser come off the bench and Fraser scored a beauty behind the back goal to cut the Saints lead to 2.

The Islanders cut the Saints lead to 1 at 13:25 when a shot went off the post, off Guilio DelBianco and in the net. It looked to touch Sam Clare last, but the goal was credited to Fraser. Either way, Clare got his goal when he picked up a rebound and scored at 13:49 to tie the game up.

The Islanders continued to dominate the period when Eli McLaughlin scored on the power play at 15:09. Goaltender DelBianco was a bit frustrated and pushed McLaughlin, but nothing came out of it.

With the Islanders up 8-6, it wasn't crazy to think about pulling DelBianco and giving Bryce Phenix some time as the goalie change certainly helped the Islanders, maybe it could've helped the Saints, but Saints' head coach Adam Smith decided to keep DelBianco in to start the third period.

It wasn't under a minute into the period, but the Saints scored first again to start the third period when Symes scored his second of the game at 2:09.

The Islanders restored their two-goal lead when they took advantage of a slow line change by the Saints and Davidson scored at 10:25, but the Saints wouldn't give up. Saints' Travis Allan received a holding penalty at 13:23, but the Saints did a great job killing the penalty and eventually, Nathan Marken scored shorthanded to cut the Islanders lead back to 1.

The Saints started to take chances with every possession under three minutes as they would pull their goalie, but it didn't work out with just under a minute to go when Islanders' Taylor Northway intercepted a pass, ran all the way down and score on the empty net.

The game still didn't end there though. The Saints pulled their goalie again and with 33 seconds left in the game, Goodwin scored and it was back to a one-goal lead by the Islanders. The Saints called a timeout with 27 seconds left, but unfortunately, they couldn't score as the Islanders win a close one, 10-9.

Three stars of the game
1. Delta - Chase Fraser - 3 goals, 1 assist
2. Delta - Spencer Bromley - 1 goal, 3 assists
3. Port Coquitlam - Connor Goodwin - 2 goal, 3 assists

The Delta Islanders get no break as they host the Burnaby Lakers Saturday night. The Port Coquitlam Saints next game will also be against the Burnaby Lakers, but the Saints will get a day off before the two teams meet on Sunday night.