RIMOUSKI-After completely dominating the first period 13-0 in shots and 3-0 in scoring, the Océanic let the Drummondville Voltigeurs come back to tie the game 3-3 before scoring the decisive goal at the end of the game in a 4-3 victory this Friday in Rimouski.
• Read also: QMJHL: a lot to work on at the Océanic
Xavier Filion has a double for the winners. The other scorers are William Dumoulin and Julien Béland. “We had gone for a quiet little meeting, but that was not the case. We had to fight to get the two points. After a first period A on our side, we could expect the other side to come back strong in the second and that’s what happened. On our side, we have to learn how to react to that,” commented Océanic head coach Serge Beausoleil.
Photo Alexandre D’Astous
Contrary to appearances, Gabriel Robert managed to make the save even though the puck seemed to be heading into the net.
Total domination of the Oceanic
The Océanic completely dominated the first period by scoring three goals while their opponent retired to the locker room with no shots on Océanic goaltender, Gabriel Robert. Xavier Filion (9th) opened the scoring with a shot from the face-off circle. The locals added two more power play goals, both initiated by defenseman Luke Coughlin. William Dumoulin (18th) drew from the enclave to make it 2-0 and Filion took advantage of a nice delivery from Dumoulin for his 2nd of the period.
Photo Alexandre D’Astous
The diminutive Océanic forward, Nathan Lévesque, is trying to impose himself in front of the Voltigeurs’ giant size defender, Maveric Lamoureux.
The Voltigeurs are back
The second period was diametrically opposed to the first except that the Voltigeurs only scored one goal despite a 19-4 dominance in shots. Justin Côté grabbed a loose puck at the mouth of the net to reduce the lead to 3-1 on the power play. The Océanic was totally dominated. Gabriel Robert was very solid in preserving his team’s lead.
Photo Alexandre D’Astous
Océanic goaltender Gabriel Robert tries to follow the puck over the players in front of him in the second period.
Julien Béland has decided
The Voltigeurs tied the game with two goals in the third period. By dint of buzzing in the territory of the Océanic, Xavier Fortin reduced the deficit to one goal before Sam Oliver tied the game 3-3 with four minutes to go. This shook the Océanic who started to attack again. Julien Béland (21st) scored the winning goal on a second effort from his linemate, Luka Verreault, who managed to pass him the disc that Béland slipped between the pads of Voltigeurs goalkeeper Riley Mercer.
In short
The Océanic was deprived of the services of three injured forwards, namely Jan Sprynar, Jacob Mathieu and Maël St-Denis.
Defenders Mathys Laurent and Cory MacGillivray were left out.
The Océanic will visit the Saguenéens on Sunday afternoon.