(Halifax) The Quebec Remparts won Game 4 of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final 2-1 against the Halifax Mooseheads and lead the series 3-1.
Théo Rochette and Zachary Bolduc scored a goal and an assist for the Remparts. Charle Truchon and Pier-Olivier Roy also had assists, while William Rousseau stopped 26 shots.
Evan Boucher scored the Mooseheads lone goal and Mathis Rousseau made 30 saves.
Roy got a golden chance to give the Remparts the lead in the opening seconds of the game, on a breakaway, but his shot hit the post after beating the Mooseheads goaltender.
This missed chance was quickly forgotten, as captain Rochette hit the target after 2:54 of the game. A shot from the point after the face-off was blocked, but Rochette quickly turned to take possession of the loose puck, turn around and shoot the far side to make it 1-0.
The Remparts already had seven shots on goal in less than three minutes of action, against none for the Mooseheads. The Mooseheads’ first shot came in the seventh minute of play, when the Remparts already had 12.
Defender Cameron Whynot was kicked out for hanging in the middle of the first period, giving the Remparts a numerical advantage. However, visitors were unable to take advantage of it.
Despite the domination of the Remparts, the locals managed to gain momentum in the last minutes of the first period. Even if they didn’t take several shots on net, the Mooseheads still slowed down the Remparts for the first time in the engagement during this sequence, during which they obtained their first power play in the game.
Failing to score with the advantage of a man, the Remparts concluded the first period with a 1-0 lead and a 20-6 dominance in shots.
The Mooseheads had a much better start to the second period, controlling the majority of the first five minutes of the engagement.
With 11:03 to play in the second period, Markus Vidicek scored from the slot, as the Remparts defense forgot him in front of the net following a fight for the puck behind the net.
Unfortunately for the Mooseheads and Vidicek, the goal was then disallowed, after review of the play, for a pass with the hand coming from behind the goalkeeper’s cage from the Remparts.
Shortly after, Boucher really equalized thanks to a nice fake allowing him to break free from his cover, before shooting on the side of the blocker against the Remparts goalkeeper. Mathieu Cataford collected an assist on the game.
The Mooseheads responded well after a very tough first period, leading in shots in the second period and getting the majority of the scoring chances.
The Mooseheads got their second power play of the game in the third period when Evan Nause was kicked out for a cross-check. The team once again failed to take advantage of the opportunity to score with an extra man.
With 9:36 to play in regulation time, the Mooseheads were down to 20 shots on net, while the Remparts, who had a good lead since the second period, had been slowed for a while and had 28.
Bolduc, however, restored his confidence when he completed Rochette’s offensive play with a good quick shot, giving the Remparts a 2-1 lead on a counter-attack.
Despite few goals in the match, Bolduc said it was up to his team to find a way to score more goals.
“He’s a good goaltender, but I think it’s up to us to find ways to beat him,” Bolduc said. I believe we are doing well so far. »
With 2:36 to go in the game, the Remparts got a power play, destroying the opponent’s chances to tie the game.
Leading 3-1 in the series, the Remparts could win top honors in front of their fans in Game 5 on Friday.
“We came out very strong,” said Remparts head coach Patrick Roy. Their goalkeeper made good saves. We stopped them from scoring on the power play, which we haven’t been able to do since the start of the series.
“We have to be ready to play a good fifth game and keep our concentration. »