SPRINGHILL - The Cumberland County Blues split their home-and-home stand over the weekend with the Antigonish Bulldogs.
The Blues won the first half of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League matchup 5-2 Friday night at the Richard Calder Arena in Springhill.
Serge Boisvert and Ryan Ingraham gave the Blues a 2-0 lead after the first period. Michael McLure assisted on the Boisvert goal, and Devon Despres helped on the Ingraham goal.
Jesse Colborne put the Blues up 3-0 midway through the second period, with assists from Paul Gulliver and Chris Poole.
The Blues made it a 3-1 game before Zach Black and Jesse Magarvey put the Blues up 5-1. Nicholas Doucet and Colborne assisted on the Black goal, and McLure and Black assisted on the Magarvey goal.
The Bulldogs scored with 18 seconds left in the game and the Blues skated off their home ice with a 5-2 victory.
Mathieu Caron face 39 shots on the night while his Blues teammates fired 33 shots at Bulldogs goaltender Butler Keagan.
The Blues went down to a 4-3 defeat to the Bulldogs Sunday in Antigonish.
"We worked hard and simply missed too many scoring chances," said Blues coach Rob McClure. "The effort was there tonight but, unfortunately, the Bulldogs were given several late power play opportunities."
The first period of the game ended with the Blues down 1-0 to the Bulldogs but Boisvert tied the game 1-1 with 2:38 left in the second period, and that was the score when the teams went into the dressing room for the second intermission. Jonathan Tattrie and Black assisted on the goal.
The Blues went up 2-1 with 15:37 left in the third when Jesse Colborne scored off assists from Paul Gulliver and Zach Anderon.
The Bulldogs tied the game 2-2 only 23 seconds later, but then the Blues went up 3-2 a mere 13 seconds later when Boisvert scored his second goal of the night with assists from Gilbert Murdock and Black.
Bulldog Bobby Hamer tied the game 3-3 with 13:01 left in the game, and then scored the game winner with 12 seconds left in the game.
Jessie Cox and Caron shared duties in net for the Blues. Cox played on period, letting in one goal on 11 shots, and Caron played 40 minutes, letting in three goals on 21 shots.
Their teammates had 26 shots on Bulldogs goaltender Patrick McNamara.
The Blues remain at the bottom of the NSJHL standings with 15 points, four points behind the Bulldogs.
"Although we are four points behind the Bulldogs we still believe that we are going to catch them in the end," said Blues general manager, Terry McManaman.
The Blues host the Pictou County Scotians Friday at 7:30 p.m. night in Springhill.
