QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — Maxime Frenette scored an overtime goal to give to the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs a 3-2 victory over the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires. Some hockey fans wondered before Game 2 of the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament between the Voltigeurs and Spitfires, just what kind of performance Drummondville would offer, especially after seeing the Rimouski Oceanic play the night before when they were dominated by the WHL champion Kelowna Rockets. What hockey fans saw was a team that played their hearts out all game long, just like they did in the QMJHL finals against Shawinigan. Drummondville goaltender Marco Cousineau, who was accused of not giving his best effort most the time, proved at least in this game that he can do the job. He made several key saves during the game, especially in overtime to preserve his team’s win. Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the first five minutes of the opening period. First, Marc-Olivier Vachon took Windsor goaltender Andrew Engelage by surprise with a great wrist shot that almost always finds a way in the net, but the Spitfires netminder said no by making a great save. Taylor Hall replied for Windsor a couple of minutes later, but this time Cousineau refused to concede anything and made the save to keeping the score 0-0. The Spitfires had the only power play in the first period but Drummondville kept Windsor off the scoreboard. Windsor right winger Justin Shugg had a great shot on net when he went in on a partial breakaway from the right side forcing Cousineau to make a save. As in the first period, the second period began with another good scoring opportunity from Drummondville. Mike Hoffman saw Windsor netminder frustrated him when he made the save from the tip of his pads. With Spitfires defenseman Rob Kwiet in penalty box, Spitfires center Scott Timmins pick a lose puck went on a breakaway forcing Cousineau to make a key save and keep the game scoreless. The Voltigeurs wasn’t any more successful to score the first goal of the game despite having three consecutive penalties to Windsor. Yannick Riendeau went in on a breakaway forcing the Spitfires netminder to Drummondville from scoring. The Spitfires finally broke the ice with the man advantage thanks to a penalty to Drummondville center Danny Masse. With only .2 seconds left on the clock, Adam Henrique scored the first goal of the game to give Windsor a 1-0 lead. The goal was under review but still counted since it was clear that time was left on the clock. The third period turned out to be an offensive one when both teams combined for three goals, two by Drummondville, sending the game into overtime. Gabriel Dumont brought both teams back to square one with Drummondville’s first goal at 7:59. Dumont was left alone on Engelage’s right side and the Voltigeurs center took a one-timer past Engelage’s glove side for the goal. Henrique scored his second goal of the game when he tipped the puck past Cousineau at the 11:48 mark to give Windsor a 2-1 lead. Drummondville tied the score at 2-2 when Philippe Lefebvre beat Engelage’s between his glove hand and his leg pads at 14:08 to push both team in overtime. Maxime Frenette ended the suspense with overtime goal 8:59 into overtime when be put home a rebound to win the game. Windsor returns in action on Sunday afternoon 4:30 against the Rimouski Oceanic. Shots on goal: Drummondville 33 Windsor 35 Power plays: Drummondville 0-4 Windsor 1-3 Three Stars of the game: 1- Maxime Frenette (Dru.) 2- Adam Henrique (Wnd.) 3- Gabriel Dumont (Dru.) Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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