The Cape Breton Eagles were no match for the mighty Gatineau Olympiques on Saturday. Unanswered in front of Alexis Gendron and Riley Kidney, the Eagles suffered a bitter 8-4 loss.
This victory officially allows the Olympiques to obtain their tickets for the playoffs.
The Canadian prospect Kidney contributed by collecting five assists, while his teammate Alexis Gendron did what he wanted on the ice with a performance of five goals.
It’s already the second time since joining the Olympiques that Kidney has amassed five points in a game. He has 23 goals and 79 points in 45 games this season and is 6th in QMJHL scoring. His average of 1.76 points per game is the third best in the Courteau circuit, following Jordan Dumais (2.09) and Zachary Bolduc (1.87).
As for Gendron, this performance allowed him to reach the mark of 37 goals this season. He is the 11th player in Olympiques history to score five goals in a game.
Gendron started the game strong and scored his first two goals of the game in the first period to give Gatineau a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles, however, bounced back quickly in the second period. Luke Patterson and Olivier Houde scored in the space of 59 seconds to bring everyone back to square one.
Gendron completed his hat trick midway through the period, also hitting 35 goals for the first time in his QMJHL career. Gendron scored his fourth goal of the game in the second period, before adding a fifth in the third period.
Antonin Verreault, Isaac Belliveau and Zachary Dean also scored for Gatineau in the win. In the Eagles camp, Samuel Johnson scored the other two goals.
Tristan Luneau had three assists, while Noah Warren had two assists.
In front of the Olympiques net, Emerik Despaties blocked 25 of the 29 shots he faced. At the other end of the ice, Nicolas Ruccia allowed eight goals on 35 shots.
Gatineau has won its last nine games.
Three points from Roy in an easy win
Another Canadiens prospect in action in the QMJHL, Joshua Roy scored a goal and added two assists in the Sherbrooke Phoenix’s 6-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats.
Roy thus reached the 30-goal plateau for the second consecutive season. He has 30 goals and 69 points in 41 games this season.
Sherbrooke notably took advantage of an unanswerable four-goal streak to take a lead that had become insurmountable. Sherbrooke has won its last six games.
Jakub Brabenec did well with two goals, while David Spacek had three assists. It was Brabenec who opened the scoring in the first half with his 15th goal of the season.
The lead, however, only lasted two minutes as moments later Preston Lounsbury found the back of the net to bring everyone back to square one.
The Phoenix, however, regained control of the game before the end of the engagement. Cole Huckins restored the lead to the Phoenix, then Ethan Gauthier doubled the lead with his 20th goal of the campaign seconds later.
In the middle period, Israel Mianscum and Roy hit the target to stretch the Phoenix lead to four goals.
Lounsbury closed the gap in the third period with their second goal of the game, but Brabenec completed the scoring with their late brace.
Sherbrooke target Olivier Adam stopped 19 of 21 shots he faced, while Jacob Steinman allowed six goals on 40 shots.
Rodzinski and Morin produce
The Saguenéens took advantage of a spurt of five straight goals to win by a score of 5-3 once morest the Val-d’Or Foreurs.
Defender Romain Rodzinski had four assists in the win, while Alexis Morin hit the target twice.
After seeing the Foreurs take a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Nathan Brisson and David Doucet, the Saguenéens responded with five goals, including four in the middle period.
Fabrice Fortin first allowed Chicoutimi to close the gap before the end of the first period. Then in the middle period, goals from Félix Bédard, Maxim Massé and Morin twice allowed the Sags to take off and take a 5-2 lead.
William Provost closed the gap for the Foreurs late in the game, but it was already too late.
Saguenéens goalkeeper Philippe Cloutier made 26 saves, while Mathys Fernandez allowed five goals on 32 pucks.
The Drakkar offers the Voltigeurs
The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took off with three goals in the second period to win by a score of 4-0 once morest the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
After a scoreless first period, Baie-Comeau quickly struck in the middle period. Louis-Charles Plourde took advantage of a power play to score his eighth goal of the campaign and open the scoring.
The Drakkar once once more found themselves on the power play later in the period. This time, it was Marshall Lessard who made the Voltigeurs pay the price for doubling Baie-Comeau’s lead.
And as if things weren’t bad enough for Drummondville, the team allowed the Drakkar a third goal just 11 seconds later. Isaac Dufort dealt the Voltigeurs a hard blow with his 14th goal of the season.
Dufort completed the scoring by scoring his second goal of the game in the third period, in an empty net. Charles-Antoine Dumont had assists on both of Dufort’s goals.
In net for the Drakkar, Olivier Ciarlo made eight saves before being replaced by Félix Hamel, who was perfect on 18 shots. At the other end of the rink, Jacob Goobie allowed three goals on 29 shots.
Cormier takes care of Cataracts
Tommy Cormier collected two points on the power play and the Victoriaville Tigres got the better of the Shawinigan Cataractes by a score of 4-3.
After conceding the first goal of the game to Félix Lacerte of the Cataractes, Victoriaville picked up the pace before the end of the first period. Thomas Belgarde and Maxime Pellerin hit the mark to put the Tigers in the driver’s seat.
Pellerin has 34 goals this season, his team’s best tally.
The two teams then exchanged goals in the middle period, so that the score was tied 3-3 with twenty minutes to play. Evan Courtois and Alexis Bonefin scored for Shawinigan, while Maël Lavigne also scored for Victoriaville.
It was ultimately Cormier who broke the tie midway through the third period with his 32nd goal of the season.
Tigres goaltender Nathan Davreau saved 29 pucks, while his vis-à-vis Giovacchino DiMattia allowed four goals on 36 shots.
Victoriaville thus put an end to a four-game losing streak.
The Islanders erase a three-goal deficit
Trailing by two goals following twenty minutes, the Charlottetown Islanders scored three unanswered goals to claim a 3-2 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs.
The game had started well for the Sea Dogs. Giuseppe Ianniello opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, then Brady Burns doubled the lead late in the game.
The second period, however, was to the advantage of the Islanders, who settled into the driver’s seat. Lucas Romeo and Jérémie Biakabutuka scored twice in less than two minutes, then Kiefer Lyons gave Charlottetown the lead with his first goal of the season.
Jakob Robillard completed the job in net to save the Islanders’ lead. He finished the game with 23 saves, while at the other end of the ice, Olivier Brideau blocked 24 shots.
