(Drummondville) Alexis Gendron scored his second goal of the match 11 seconds into overtime and the Voltigeurs defeated the Victoriaville Tigres 3-2 on Friday in Drummondville to secure their ticket to the final.
Mikael Huchette also hit the target and finished the game with three points for the Voltigeurs, who ended this series in five games. Goaltender Riley Mercer stopped 30 pucks.
Four of the five games were decided by a single goal in this semi-final of the Maritimes Quebec Junior Hockey League.
The Voltigeurs will take part in the final for the first time since they won the President Cup in 2009. They then lost 3-2 against the eventual champions of the Memorial Cup, the Windsor Spitfires, in the semi-finals. -final.
They will now face the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, who qualified for the final on Thursday by defeating the Cape Breton Eagles in five games. The North Shore team posted a record of 53-12-3, the best of the regular season.
Alexis Bourque and Benjamin Vigneault provided the Tigers’ response. In his last junior game of his career, goaltender Nathan Darveau shone in the defeat with 42 saves.
An efficient start for the Tigers
The Tigers had forced a fifth game by winning 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday, and started the match strong by firing nine of the first 11 shots of the game. They opened the scoring with their 10e throw.
Voltigeurs forward Alexis Gendron made a pass out of the zone to try to reach Ethan Gauthier, but the latter returned to the bench. Francesco Iasenza took the opportunity to intercept the relay and handed the puck to Bourque, who beat Mercer with a low shot to the left of the net.
This goal woke up the local favorites, who dominated the rest of the first period to ultimately lead 15-12 in shots without managing to hit the target.
After a rather slow start to the second period on both sides, Huchette tied the game at 7:53. Cutting skillfully towards the slot, the 20-year-old Maskoutain hit the target between Darveau’s pads. It was his fourth goal of the playoffs.
In the third period, a goal by the Voltigeurs was canceled by the referees due to an obstructive gesture by Kassim Gaudet towards the goalkeeper.
Vigneault gave the Tigres the lead again at 7:26 of the third with his third goal of the series. He was patient with the puck and took a veiled shot while a teammate was well placed in front of Mercer.
The play was sent to video review for an obstructive gesture against the goaltender, but the decision rendered on the ice was upheld.
Gendron, however, dealt a hard blow to the Tigres forcing overtime to take place 49 seconds from the final whistle. He deflected a shot from Vsevolod Komarov, then he deflected a shot from Huchette at the start of overtime to end the match.