BAIE-COMEAU – The Baie-Comeau Drakkar missed their return home on Tuesday night when they lost 5-2 to the Moncton Wildcats in Game 3 of their Round of 16 series.
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Defeated at home a few days earlier, the visitors from New Brunswick bounced back in force to take a 2-1 lead and regain the advantage of the ice in this confrontation.
Much like the previous two games in the series, the matchup was hotly contested for more than two periods before the Wildcats sounded the charge with three goals in the final period.
The winners took advantage of a turnover in the enemy defensive zone to break a 2-2 tie thanks to Thomas Auger’s winning goal. They then added two more nets in empty cages.
“Once again, the match was very tight. There was a lot of nervousness in the first period and puck management was more difficult. Things settled down a bit more afterwards,” commented driver Jean-François Grégoire.
Inspired by spectacular saves from goalkeeper Olivier Ciarlo, the hosts resisted a double penalty kill in the third period with flying colors, but couldn’t capitalize afterwards.
“We had good chances, but two players went into the void in front of their net. The command will not be easy, but it will be necessary to start the next game from the start and be more opportunistic in attack. »
very tight
Like his counterpart, Wildcats coach Daniel Lacroix also spoke of a very tight game. “It’s been like that since the beginning of the series. These are two very committed teams, who give their all on the ice,” acknowledged the manager.
After dropping a game at home, the Moncton skaters went for a big win. “The players reacted well. We tried to keep the momentum. Their keeper was good. Our goalkeeper was good and we are thinking about tomorrow’s game. »
And bref
Yoan Loshing, Connor Trenholm, Alexis Daniel and Charles Beaudoin scored the other goals for the winners…Louis-Charles Plourde and Charles-Antoine Dumont sounded the response for the Drakkar, who again played the match with only five defenders. .The two teams meet at the Henry-Leonard center on Wednesday evening.