Goaltender Colten Ellis backstopped the Cape Breton West Islanders to a tournament-opening win at the Telus Cup national midget hockey championship on Monday afternoon at CN Centre.
Ellis made 34 saves in a 2-1 victory against the Saint-Francois Blizzard.
The result marks the first time in 12 years the Atlantic champion has beaten the Quebec champ in preliminary play at the Telus Cup.
Ellis, a 16-year-old from River Denys, N.S., allowed a goal to Saint-Francois forward Vincent Guy at 13:05 of the first period, a marker that deadlocked the game 1-1, but shut out the Blizzard the rest of the way.
Malcolm MacEachern opened the scoring for the Islanders 4:36 into the game when his hard wrister from the slot found its way past Blizzard goalie Philippe Gaudreault, who faced six shots in the early minutes of the contest.
Guy's tying goal was a shorthanded breakaway effort.
Early in the second period, Jacob Stewart gave the Islanders what proved to be the winning goal while his team was on a power play.
A shot from the high slot by Logan Timmons hit a body in front of the net and the puck bounced to Stewart, who made no mistake.
In the final 40 minutes, Ellis made 23 saves. Overall, Saint-Francois outshot Cape Breton 35-28.
The Islanders went 1-for-4 on the power play and the Blizzard went scoreless in four opportunities.
Saint-Francois had three consecutive power plays in the second period and another late in the game but couldn't beat Ellis.
Today, the Blizzard will be back on CN Centre ice at noon against the Mississauga Rebels.
The Islanders, meanwhile, will try to move to 2-0 when they play in the 4 p.m. game against the Leduc Chrysler Oil Kings.
Big third lifts Rebels to victory
The Mississauga Rebels scored three third-period goals in rapid succession on the way to a 5-2 win against the Regina Pat Canadians on Monday at the Telus Cup national midget hockey championship at CN Centre.
The Rebels, the Central region champion, led 2-1 after the first period and carried that advantage into the third after a scoreless second period.
Mississauga opened the final frame with a goal off the post by Eric Mergelas at the 3:33 mark but Harrison Blaisdell, on a one-timed blast, promptly answered back for the Pat Canadians. With the Rebels leading 3-2, Liam Mroueh and Ryan Madigan connected for two more quick goals. Mroueh hit the top corner behind Regina goaltender Nathan Moore and Madigan jammed home a rebound at the side of the net. Those markers came at 5:07 and 6:37 respectively.
The Canadians opened the scoring at 3:40 of the first period on a goal by Lukas Sillinger. The Rebels, meanwhile, didn't get their first shot until the period was more than half done but then struck with markers by Elijah Gonsalves and Michael Hill, the latter of whom finished the game with three points.
The West region-champion Pat Canadians outshot the Rebels 21-17 but winning goaltender Christian Purboo was solid in the Mississauga net.
The Canadians went scoreless in seven man-advantage opportunities, while the Rebels were 0-for-3 on the power play.
Mississauga's next game is today at noon against the Saint-Francois Blizzard. The Pat Canadians will be back on CN Centre ice at 7:30 p.m. against the Cariboo Cougars.
