The regular season ended in the QMJHL on Saturday. The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada was the last team to confirm its place in the playoffs as the Val-d’Or Foreurs suffered elimination.
Here are the matchups from the first round of the playoffs:
Quebec Remparts c. Charlottetown Islanders
Mooseheads d’Halifax c. Eagles du Cap-Breton
Moncton Wildcats vs. Baie-Comeau Longship
Saguenéens of Chicoutimi c. Rimouski Oceanic
Sherbrooke Phoenix v. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
Gatineau Olympics vs. St. John’s Sea Dogs
Victoriaville Tigers c. Drummondville Voltigeurs
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies v. Shawinigan Cataracts
Summary of the last day
Josh Lawrence had three goals and three assists, Jordan Dumais had four assists and Alexandre Doucet added a goal and two assists in the Halifax Mooseheads’ 10-5 win over the Charlottetown Islanders.
Lawrence’s third goal allowed him to reach the 50 mark this season. He became the third Mooseheads player to score 50 goals this season following Doucet and Dumais.
For his part, Dumais ended his third season in the QMJHL with an impressive total of 140 points and easily won the league scoring championship with 21 points more than his closest pursuer. He is the first player since Alexander Radulov to collect at least 140 points in a season.
Dumais also put his name in the Mooseheads record book. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ third-round pick eclipsed the team’s single-season mark of 137 points, a high set by Ramzi Abid in 1999-2000.
Owen Phillips, Brody Fournier, Markus Vidicek and Zachary L’Heureux with a brace scored the other goals in the Halifax camp. Defender Brady Schultz also did well with a three assist performance.
Michael Horth led the Islanders offense with two goals. Kiefer Lyons, Keiran Gallant and Marcus Kearsey found the back of the net.
The day was not easy for the two goalkeepers. James Brady signed the victory despite five goals allowed on 26 shots. Dixon Grimes flinched 10 times in front of the powerful attack of the Mooseheads.
The Armada obtains the necessary point
The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada earned a spot in the QMJHL playoffs on the very last day of the regular season, despite a 6-5 shootout loss to the Gatineau Olympiques.
The point obtained in regulation time combined with the loss of the Val-d’Or Foreurs assures the Armada of a place in the spring round. But to get there, Bruce Richardson’s players had to get their character out.
Trailing 4-2 in the third period, the Armada managed a three-goal streak in 4:01 to turn things around and take a 5-4 lead.
It was ultimately the 34th goal of the season and the third of the game by Zachary Dean of the Olympiques with 1:23 to go in the game that forced overtime.
In the play-off, goals from Tristan Luneau and Olivier Nadeau made the difference.
Cristiano Spadafora and Antonin Verreault obtained the others in regulation time for the Olympiques.
Riley Kidney, Luneau and Cole Cormier had two assists each.
For the Armada, James Swan and Zachary Dean each scored two goals. Xavier Sarrasin for his part collected a goal and an assist.
Mikaël Denis and Maximilian Streule amassed two assists each.
The Drillers on vacation
The Val-d’Or Foreurs’ playoff dream came to an end following a 5-2 loss to their Abitibi rivals, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who won 5- 2.
This setback allows Blainville-Boisbriand to sneak into the playoffs.
Annoyed by injuries to their goaltenders throughout the season, the Foreurs sent Antoine Dubourg-Vandal of College André-Laurendeau between the posts. The latter, who was making his first start on the junior circuit, was the eighth different goalie used by the team this season.
As a baptism of fire, he was entitled to a flurry of 39 shots, yielding three goals.
Dubourg-Vandal was foiled by five different markers. They are Thomas Verdon, Louis-Philippe Fontaine, Daniil Bourash, Jérémie Minville and François-James Buteau.
For the Foreurs, the reply came from David Doucet and Alexandre Guy.
Joshua Roy is ready for the playoffs
Joshua Roy’s second goal of the game at 3:09 of overtime gave the Sherbrooke Phoenix a 5-4 victory over the Victoriaville Tigres.
Roy, who finishes the regular season with 46 goals, also had two assists.
Roy was notably an accomplice to Jacob Melanson’s 50th goal.
David Spacek, who also had three assists, and Justin Gill had the other goals in the win.
For the Tigers, Egor Goriunov got two goals.
William Veillette and Tommy Cormier, with his 40th of the season, have the others for Victo.
A special evening for Antoine Coulombe
Antoine Coulombe deserved the victory in his last game of the regular season in the uniform of the Shawinigan Cataractes who defeated the Drummondville Voltigeurs 4 to 2.
The 21-year-old keeper made 31 saves to earn the win. This was his 171e game in net for the Cataractes, with whom he played his five seasons in the QMJHL.
Honored before the game, the goaltender invited to the last Montreal Canadiens camp earned the first star of the game.
Thomas Hébert, Leo Braillard, Jacob Lafontaine and Lou-Félix Denis were the scorers for the Cataractes.
Sam Oliver and Xavier Fortin provided the line for the Voltigeurs.
Moncton secures 3rd place in the East
The Moncton Wildcats got the better of the Cape Breton Eagles, winning 9-2.
This victory allows the Wildcats to finish third in the East.
Yoan Loshing took advantage of this offensive festival to score three goals in addition to obtaining an assist.
Charles Beaudoin had two goals and two assists for the Wildcats, who shot 50 times in the direction of the enemy net. In return, the Eagles only directed 18 shots toward the Wildcats net.
Thomas Auger had a goal and two assists.
Gabe Smith, Alexis Daniel and Maxim Barbashev also scored in the win.
Etienne Morin was an accomplice on four Wildcats goals.
Jacob Newcombe scored both goals in the loss, allowing him to finish the regular season with 25 goals.
Langlois has the last word
Jérémy Langlois was the only player to find the back of the net in the shootout in a 1-0 victory for the Quebec Remparts over the Rimouski Océanic.
Langlois beat Patrik Hamrla to give the win to Patrick Roy’s men.
Quentin Miller signed the shutout in front of the Remparts goal, stopping all 15 shots he faced.
For his part, Hamrla faced 19 shots.
Larkin, Arsenault and Allison sound the charge
Cole Larkin scored two goals, Donovan Arsenault had a goal and three assists while Ben Allison had three assists in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 7-4 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs.
It’s just a fourth road win for the Titan, which will be absent from the playoff draw.
Matthew McRae, Cole Larkin, Robert Orr, Ty Higgins and Dominik Godin in an empty net were the other scorers for the Titan.
In the loss, Alexis Cournoyer was the most productive with a goal and two assists.
Alex Drover, Peter Reynolds and Vince Elie also hit the mark for the Sea Dogs.
The Drakkar ends its season on the right foot
Justin Poirier scored the winning goal at 10:03 of the third period and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar signed a 3-1 victory over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
After a scoreless first period, Samuel Vachon opened the scoring for the Sags with his fifth of the season.
Chicoutimi’s lead didn’t last long, as Louis-Charles Plourde tied the game four minutes later.
Poirier then gave the Drakkar the lead on a power play, then Marc-Antoine Séguin scored the insurance goal less than 90 seconds later.
Olivier Ciarlo did well in front of the Drakkar cage with 29 saves. Charles-Antoine Lavallée stopped 26 pucks in the loss.