By Patrick Healey

The Charlottetown Jr. A Abbies are licking their wounds after a pair of Maritime Junior Hockey League weekend losses in Truro and East Hants Oct. 23 and 24.

The Abbies were edged 5-4 by the Truro Bearcats Oct. 23 and were unable to match the offence shown by East Hants as the Penguins upended the Abbies 6-2 Oct. 24, in Lantz.

In the Saturday game, the Abbies could only manage two shots on Rob Carter in the first period but had plenty of missed opportunities. That's where the game was lost, said assistant coach Ron Hennessey. He was substituting for coach Gordie Whitlock who was serving a suspension.

"Well, I thought we fell asleep in the first," Hennessey said. "When you only play 40 minutes in a 60-minute game, that's not good enough, no matter who you're playing."

The home team got its first goal of the game by Josh Boulton, his first of two that night, less then five minutes in.

Just as Charlottetown had killed off a penalty, Derek McAllister netted Truro's second goal.

Truro got a three-goal cushion on Jason Hoyt's second goal of the season, his first of a pair in the game, at 2:21 of the middle period.

The rally then started for the Abbies. Right-winger Andrew MacMillan netted the first marker on the night to get the Abbies within two before Hoyt netted his second to regain the three-goal lead for Truro.

Dion Burhoe made it 4-2 and Gordie Evans made it a one-goal game and the Abbies were down 4-3 heading into the final frame.

A slick pass by Will Hubloo to Chris Tellum evened the score at 4-4 before Boulton netted the winner at 9:34.

A bright spot in the game was Midget-aged goalie Andrew Gallant, who received praise for his play from coach Hennessey.

"No doubt, Gallant played good," Hennessey said. "We've got to remember he's still a Midget-aged goalie."

"He showed a lot of poise and confidence out on the ice tonight in facing 40-something shots," Hennessey said.

In Lantz Sunday, the Abbies started Ben Vos in goal but they lost 6-2. The score didn't dictate how close the game really was.

The last time these teams faced off, Pens. goalie Andrew Lowery was the key in a 1-1 tie. William Hubloo scored for Charlottetown, while Adam Fredericks had the East Hants marker.

Vos got off to a shaky start, allowing two quick goals by Brookes van Tassell and Gerald MacNeil just 1:10 apart.

The Abbies scored on a power play goal at the seven-minute mark when Dion Burhoe passed to Hubloo, who got the Abbies to within one goal but that's as close as Charlottetown would come.

The Pens. had back-to-back goals by Jamie Brown in the second period giving a 4-1 lead going into the final frame. Brown's second marker was a beauty, as Mark Thompson did some tricky stick handling and passed it off to linemate Fredericks who slipped a backhand pass to Brown. Brown then shot from just outside the crease at Vos, got his own rebound and pocketed his second of the night.

Pens. Calvin Lewis took the puck on a bad hop at the Pens blueline and scored on a breakaway to make it 5-1.

Jeff Dooks, assured the Abbies wouldn't come back scoring a second period power-play marker at 10:43 over Vos's right shoulder.

The fans came alive after Abbies Mike Druken took on Pens. heavyweight Tony Breau. The fight seemed to give the Abbies some much-needed life. Minutes later, Andrew MacMillan pocketed the Abbies second and final marker of the game.

The only action in a scoreless third was a fight by Abbies' Pat Sellars and Breau, less than a minute in. After Sellars hit Brown on his left shin, he went down without a call by the referee Breau took offense to his actions.

It was the end of the night for Breau, as it was his second fight.

The new MJAHL second fight rule allows players to fight twice in a game before they are given a game misconduct, sent to the dressing room and not allowed back in that game.