Crushers host ‘Wolves in next MHL home tilt

NEW GLASGOW – The Pictou County Weeks Crushers will host the Miramichi Timberwolves Thursday in New Glasgow in their next Maritime Hockey League game.
It’s the Crushers’ only game this week, but it precedes a series of four games in five nights next week.
The Crushers defeated the Timberwolves 3-1 in their last meeting Sept. 29 in Miramichi.
They played three games in as many nights last week, starting with a 4-3 loss to the defending champion Woodstock Slammers Thursday in New Glasgow and ending with a 5-1 loss to the unbeaten Truro Bearcats Saturday in Truro.
In between, the Crushers managed a 6-5 shootout victory Friday over the host Dieppe Commandoes.
The Slammers wiped out a 3-0 Crushers lead with four straight goals in the third period, including the winning goal on a power play with 1:50 remaining in the period. They outshot the Crushers 42-32 before more than 1,000 fans at the John Brother MacDonald Stadium.
Jordan Moore gave the Crushers a 1-0 lead in the first period, while Evan MacEachern and Brennan Saulnier scored their other goals in the second period.
Saulnier and Mullally scored the only goals during the shootout against Dieppe.
The teams were deadlocked in a 2-2 tie through one period despite goals for the Crushers by Mullally and Cody Squires.
Saulnier tallied twice in the second period and Bruce Hornbrook collected the Crushers’ other goal in the third period.
In Truro Saturday, the Bearcats scored three goals in the second period and answered the Crushers’ lone goal by Devan Gunn with two more goals in the third period.
Hornbrook remains the Crushers’ leading points leader with 12, which puts him in a fourth-place tie.
Saulnier’s production has given him six goals and five assists for 11 points.
The Bearcats’ win moved them into a second-place tie with the Crushers behind the Yarmouth Mariners in the newly named Eastlink Division.
The league announced Friday that it was renaming the division after agreeing to a sponsorship with the cable TV provider.
“Eastlink has firmly established itself as one of the most successful telecommunications companies in Canada,” said MHL board of governors chairman John Lynn. “This partnership is a very positive one for our league; being associated with Eastlink’s very strong brand bolsters the MHL’s presence within its member communities and all of the Maritimes.”
The new badge replaces the long-standing Bent Division designation in memory of former Amherst Ramblers executive Maurice Bent, who guided the team during its initial years in the former Metro Valley league in the late 1960s and early 70s.