(Sherbrooke) For the first time in their history, the Charlottetown Islanders qualified for the final series of the President’s Cup on Monday night, after beating the Sherbrooke Phœnix 4-3 at the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet .
Posted at 9:46 p.m.
The Islanders also won the best-of-five series 3-1 in the semifinals of the QMJHL playoffs. They will face the winners of the other semi-final between the Quebec Remparts and the Shawinigan Cataractes.
“This is a huge milestone for our franchise,” Islanders head coach Jim Hulton said in a postgame videoconference. We have made many sacrifices over the years to get here. It’s very meaningful for us, because we’ve passed so close so many times. »
The Phoenix, which was struggling for survival, started the encounter on the wrong foot. Keiran Gallant opened the scoring at 6:06 for the Islanders, while the hosts still had no shot on goal with almost seven minutes remaining in the period.
The Phoenix was not at the end of its troubles.
Brett Budgell doubled the Islanders’ powerplay lead at 13:32 of the first period, before Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy narrowed the gap to half 1:56 in the period.
Budgell returned after less than five minutes in the second period, this time shorthanded, then William Trudeau made it 4-1 before the 10e minute of play in the period.
The game could have changed with 48 seconds left in the second period, when Xavier Simoneau hit Xavier Parent from behind. Parent looked stunned and Simoneau received a major penalty and a match penalty.
As to whether Simoneau’s gesture should be reviewed by the disciplinary prefect of the Courteau circuit, Hulton simply said “we will see what they will take as a decision”.
Parent nevertheless took the opportunity to restore hope to the Phoenix by finding the back of the Islanders net twice in 4: 15 at the start of the third period – including one on the power play after 28 seconds of play –, making it 4-3.
However, it was too little, too late for the Phoenix.
Islanders goaltender Francesco Lapenna stopped 36 of 39 shots he faced, while Ivan Zhigalov made 14 saves in front of the Phoenix net.