Eskimos escape cellar with win over Jr. A Trappers

Jr. Trappers forward Darnell Koosees has a shot stopped by Eskis goalie JP Fecteau. Photo by Chris Dawson.

After a brief 48 hour stay above the surface, it's back to the basement for the North Bay Jr. A Trappers.

JP Fecteau made 36 saves to backstop the Abitibi Eskimos to a 3-2 win over North Bay, leapfrogging them over the Trappers in the NOJHL East standings.

Erik Robichaud got his 15th of the season and added an assist to lead Abitibi (12-13-1).

Darnell Koosees and Adam Marceau scored for North Bay (10-14-4).

"We had enough opportunities to win, we didn`t capitalize on our chances and we should have," said Trappers head coach Ian Swalucynski.

"We had a couple chances in front, we got outbattled, and that can`t happen," he said.

Despite a game filled with hits and battles along the boards, Swalucynski wasn`t satisfied with his team`s effort in front of the the opposing goal.

``We gotta go to the dirty spots, we gotta get hard on pucks, we gotta take pucks hard to the net, be willing to take a big hit to get the puck out,`` he said.

The Trappers started strong, and took the early lead 65 seconds in on Koosees' seventh of the year. Ryan West grabbed a turnover off the right wing boards, and fired a shot on Fecteau which was stopped, but the rebound bounced straight off Koosees' trailing skate and under the Abitibi netminder.

Abitibi equalized at 6:15 of the first on a nice three-way passing play down the right side off the rush, which was converted by Robichaud, the Eskimos' leading scorer.

Despite getting the first six shots in the middle period, missed checks in the defensive zone saw the Trappers surrender the next two goals.

After an icing call and an offensive zone faceoff win, an untouched Richard Therrien gave Abitibi the lead at 5:07, grabbing a rebound and steering it around Trappers goalie Landon Noel on his backhand.

The Eskimos made it 3-1 when Kael Peterson was left all alone in the left slot to bury a big rebound into a wide open net at 7:49.

But Marceau poked home his second of the year at 13:31 through a crowd in front of Fecteau to make it a one-goal game through 40 minutes.

"We were worried (at that point)," said Eskimos head coach Paul Gagne, who felt what his team did next helped stem the Trappers` surge.

"In the last six minutes of the second period...we rolled three lines and we were going really hard on them, really hard and we changed the momentum," Gagne said.

``That made a big difference, and then the players started relaxing and we could just continue with our game plan.``

They did just that, as the Eskimos renowned trapping style extinguished any Trapper comeback attempt in the third.

The home side's best chance to even the game came with 8:42 to play when Fecteau made a nice blocker save off the backhand of Travis Fernley on a breakaway.

Fernley then was given a borderline interference penalty with just under five minutes to play, which Swalucynski felt killed the momentum his team was building.

``That kind of took our wind out of our sails right there,`` Swalucynski said.

The frustration and perhaps lack of confidence peaked in the final minute when the Eskimos penned in the Trappers, who failed to gain the offensive zone and get a sixth attacker on the ice.

For Gagne, his team's success comes down to one thing.

"Comprehension," Gagne said. "It`s easy to teach, to coach, they understand...here, it`s a program.``

North Bay outshot Abitibi 38-35, and 20-11 in the second period, but Fecteau didn`t have to make any spectacular saves.

``Rebounds were under control. Yeah, he just had a solid game,`` Gagne said.

The Trappers played with just 16 skaters, as Jamie Olivier remains injured and Kyle Rowe was ill. All the team`s midget affiliate players were committed to tournament play this weekend, Swalucynski said.

The Eskimos have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the Trappers with games at home Saturday against Manitoulin and in Temiscaming on Sunday.

The Trappers next game comes next Friday when they host division-leading Sudbury.

GAME NOTES: American defenceman Tom Dowell played his first game on Gardens ice for the Trappers after joining the team this week...the three stars were Fecteau, Robichaud and North Bay`s Jonathan Dionne, who was honoured before the game with the team`s player of the week award...the Trappers were 0-for-3 on the power play, the Eskimos 0-for-4...North Bay received five of nine penalties issued by referee Pierre Lacroix...the departure of Sacha Guimond leaves an alternate captaincy open on the Trappers. Swalucynski says it`ll go to ``whoever wants to step up.``...Eskimos team president Scott Marshall won a draw for a chauffered night out in North Bay.