2024-05-14 01:46:00
The undisputed superpower of the QMJHL in the regular season, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar are in danger of being swept out of the finals series, after a third straight loss on Monday against the Drummondville Voltigeurs, this time by a clear score of 6 to 2.
Blanked in each of the first two confrontations on their rink, the Drakkers saw this third duel escape it very early, much to the delight of a Marcel-Dionne center filled to capacity.
The squad led by Jean-François Grégoire will not have much time to feel sorry for themselves; she will look to make amends in Game 4 on Tuesday (7 p.m. at the RDS), also at the Drummondville Amphitheater.
For their part, the Voltigeurs will have a perfect opportunity to lift the Gilles-Courteau trophy in front of their fans. This would be a second playoff championship capture for the Centre-du-Québec team.
– They played very, very well. They dominated us,” Grégoire admitted.
Even before completing the 14th minute of play on Monday, the Voltigeurs had already ignited the crowd by taking a 3-0 lead.
No sooner had Sam Oliver scored Drummondville’s second goal than 1:32 later, at 13:27 of the first period, Ethan Gauthier fired a one-timer into the top corner after Luke Woodworth broke up a Drakkar play in the neutral zone.
Hero of the Voltigeurs in overtime in Game 2, Gauthier added a 12th goal of the spring. The Tampa Bay Lightning hopeful would even score a 13th in the second period.
Leading 4-0, Drummond already had 12 shots on Charles-Édward Gravel’s cage, compared to just four for Baie-Comeau on Riley Mercer, the Voltigeurs’ new record holder.
Drakkar’s ordeal did not stop there as the Voltigeurs added a fifth goal without response before the first break.
One of the club’s best skaters in the first period, Mikael Huchette collected a second assist by skillfully feeding Lukas Landry behind the gravel net.
Mercer establishes a team brand
Midway through the match, the North Shore representatives – completely unrecognizable after losing just one game in the first three rounds – had still only fired a paltry six shots at Mercer.
Mercer was also closing in on an eighth straight period without giving up anything to the powerful Baie-Comeau offense.
A power play goal by Justin Poirier at 16:41 of the middle period ended Mercer’s streak at 162 minutes, 4 seconds.
It was Drakkar’s 84th shot on goal since the start of the final series.
“Riley is doing an exceptional job,” Voltigeur head coach Sylvain Favreau said. All you can ask of your goalkeeper is to give you a chance to win a game and he has done that time and time again. »
The team’s record streak was held until then by Frédéric Chabot, in 1988, and was 137 minutes and 52 seconds.
Chase Marchand holds the all-time mark in the QMJHL with 223 minutes without allowing a goal during the 2016 playoffs.
However, Gauthier interrupted the visitors’ brief moment of celebration by making it 6-1, 75 seconds later.
This scoring lasted until halfway through the final third, with captain Isaac Dufort’s net proving a rather modest balm for the Drakkers.
Defender Vsevolod Komarov started the match well for the locals by hitting the goal in the fourth minute.
The Drakkers are participating in the final for the third time in history, but have never won it. Voltigeurs is participating for the fifth time and triumphed in 2009.
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