RIMOUSKI | Before leaving for Rimouski, Patrick Roy had mentioned hoping that one of his two goalkeepers would force his hand. Yesterday, William Rousseau took a step in this direction since his brilliance allowed the Remparts to reach the semi-finals thanks to a 5-2 victory over the Rimouski Océanic in the fourth game of the quarter-final series. .
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Rousseau was particularly sparkling in a first period dominated by an Océanic who had no intention of seeing his season come to an end. Despite everything, the Red Devils were able to retire to the locker room with a deficit of only 1 to 0, after a beautiful goal from William Dumoulin.
“He was extraordinary, mentioned Patrick Roy. He was the reason why we were able to stay in this game in the first period. I don’t remember the last time we gave ten chances to score in the first period. »
“I relied on my positioning in the first period and I kept it simple,” added Rousseau. I put myself in front of the puck as much as possible and I gave no feedback. I controlled the game. »
This confidence, Rousseau believes that it comes, among other things, from the fact that he also played match number three on Thursday.
Photo Alexandre D’Astous
Face-off disputed between Maël St-Denis and Mikaël Huchette.
“I am a goalkeeper who likes consistency. I played yesterday, and today, in first, I saw the puck. It was like a beach ball. »
ADVERSITY
Once again, the match was much tighter than the score indicated. After a difficult first period, the Remparts struck quickly at the start of the second – from the 36and second — thanks to James Malatesta.
“We had a really ordinary first period, admitted Théo Rochette. After the period, we spoke. We didn’t want a number five game, so we really came out strong in the second and from there we had the momentum. »
Patrick Roy was one of those who spoke in the locker room.
Photo Alexandre D’Astous
The Remparts goalkeeper, William Rousseau, made the save on this sequence in the first period.
“A lot of times Larry Robinson would come into the locker room when we were playing in Boston and he would say if we could weather the storm and just trail by one goal, we could get the game. »
After Malatesta’s goal, Viljami Marjala gave the Remparts the lead before the end of the second, then Louis Crevier hurt the Océanic after only 15 seconds elapsed in the third period of a lead that made Quebec 3-1.
“These are series goals. These are never big scores and every goal hurts. At the start of the period, it can calm the crowd down a bit since it’s very noisy here,” admitted Crevier.
Equipment problem
Théo Rochette arrived at the bench of the Remparts a few minutes after the start of the match, injured who knows where. The latter, like Patrick Roy, left the mystery hanging over the meeting.
“An equipment problem,” said Rochette, smiling.
Which Roy corroborated, sarcastically.
“He had a skating problem. A skate is always more difficult. »
One thing is certain, Rochette, her “skate problem” and her line were not as dominant as usual against Rimouski. Which doesn’t worry Roy unduly.
“I trust that it will be them who will make the difference in the next series, that’s how it should be seen,” he mentioned.
The Remparts will meet the Shawinigan Cataractes in the semi-finals. The series will begin next Wednesday at the Videotron Center.