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The Newfoundland Regiment hockey club battled back to tie its first round series in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League playoffs against the Cape Breton Eagles Friday night at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s.
“All our guys really were ready to play, ready to compete, today,” said head coach Gordie Dwyer in a video posted on the team’s social media.
“The rink was loud tonight, it was alive, and we knew the fans were behind us and it really helped our players perform tonight.”
Each team has one win each, with Game 3 on the horizon in Nova Scotia on Tuesday. It was a bounce-back effort for the Regiment after a 3-2 loss on Thursday.
The club took an early Game 2 lead with a goal from Blake Pilgrim-Edwards.
Dawson Sharkey and Justin Larose then netted one each in the second period. The Eagles clawed back with two of their own before the third period.
But the comeback didn’t last long. Pilgrim-Edwards and Larose scored another each, and Louis-François Bélanger added the dagger to make the final 6-3.
Goaltender Louis-Antoine Denault made 20 saves for his first win of the postseason.
Hype has been building among fans in Newfoundland and Labrador who have been excited to see top-level hockey back in the province after the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers folded in 2024.
The Regiment is the QMJHL’s newest franchise, and has already broken records. The team saw an average of 5,234 fans over the regular season, breaking a 56-year old attendance record for first-year teams.
The Regiment now goes on the road for the next three games of the series at Centre 200 in Sydney, N.S.
The series returns to St. John’s for games six and seven if needed.
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