If the clash the day before between the Remparts de Québec and the Océanic de Rimouski had been dominated by the Bas-Saint-Laurent team, that of Sunday at the Videotron Center was much closer. It was ultimately Rimouski who won by a score of 4 to 3 in overtime.
The outcome of this New Year’s Eve duel was sealed by Charle Truchon who won the Memorial Cup with the Red Devils last June. “It’s a good end to the year! It’s fun to be able to win against Quebec after being pulled back at the end of the third,” suggested the main interested party for whom the meeting represented the fifth clash against his former team.
If the Océanic “came back at the end of the third period” as he mentioned, it was because Quebec native Julien Béland had broken a 2-2 tie at the start of the period, but the captain of the Remparts, Kassim Gaudet, forced overtime with only 53 seconds to play. It was a second goal in the match for the 20-year-old striker.
PROVIDED BY JONATHAN ROY/REMPARTS DE QUÉBEC
Good performance
“Before yesterday’s performance, we wanted to come back with a good match, that’s what we did by working for three periods. “It’s not the expected result, but I think we can be proud of our performance,” he summarized after the meeting.
His boss, coach Éric Veilleux, agreed. “I didn’t need to put a lot of emphasis on the message. The players knew. We have a good group of competitors, I’m happy with the way we came out. We played a good match, even if the penalties broke the momentum a little,” he said.
Difficulties in power play for Rimouski
Although these penalties may have slowed down the Red Devils, fortunately for them, the Oceanic did not manage to take advantage of them too often during the meeting. Joël Perreault’s men only actually scored on one of their seven attempts in such a situation, and that was in overtime.
“OUR power play had difficulty all evening. We said to ourselves after the second period that we could have another chance. It’s nice that we stayed positive and that it was Charle Truchon who scored,” said Perreault.
A perfect first weekend for Lacelle
This second victory in as many days for the Océanic against the Remparts was also the second victory in as many matches in the Cecchini circuit for the young 16-year-old rookie goalkeeper William Lacelle.
PROVIDED BY JONATHAN ROY/REMPARTS DE QUÉBEC
In the absence of Quentin Miller, who was unable to face his former teammates due to a virus, Lacelle made 31 saves. “It was a new experience for me and I loved it! I am very happy! It couldn’t be better, two wins, the team played well, that’s all you can ask for as a young goalkeeper!” he summed up.
Quickly
- Charles-Olivier Villeneuve was the other scorer for Quebec. Dominic Pilote and Jacob Mathieu also blackened the scoresheet for Rimouski.
- Suspended for one match due to a high stick the day before, Spencer Gill did not participate in the match.
- 13,745 spectators attended the match.