QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — What a day off can make for the Gatineau Olympiques team. After losing first game 2-1 against Saint John and coming out of a grueling seven-game series against Quebec, the Olympiques scored twice inside the first five minutes of the opening period. They then hung on to the one goal lead until the game winning goal came off the stick of defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers with only 5:01 gone in the third period. With that victory, Gatineau returns home with the series tied 1-1.
Talking to Scott Brigs of the Telegraph-Journal after Saint John first victory Olympiques head coach Benoit Groulx gave credit to Saint John team after their first win Thursday night.
“Saint John deserved to win. They played better than us and we hung in there, and Clermont was very solid. They have so many guys who can make the difference and they found way to win,” Groulx said.
On the other side, Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant, was the first to admit after his team first victory, in same local newspaper Telegraph-Journal, that his team was little bit rusty before that first game.
“We had some good chances but we didn’t always bear down. I thought there was some rust in our game tonight. Overall we played a decent game but not good enough for what we need and hopefully we will be lot better,” Gallant said.
Gallant did not expect to see his team trailing 2-0 just 9:00 minutes into the first period. After seeing Gatineau goaltender Maxime Clermont make two key saves, one against Jonathan Huberdeau, the other at the hand of Stanislav Galiev, Saint John replied with a man advantage to break the ice.
A shot from the point, by Olympiques captain Hubert Labrie, beat Saint John goaltender Jacob DeSerres over his left shoulder, after deflecting off Sea Dogs center Danick Gauthier at 4:25.
A broken play deep in the Saint John zone led to Gatineau second goal. Philippe Halley found Tommy Tremblay who beat Sea Dogs netminder 4:03 later with Olympiqyes second goals.
A double minor to Gatineau center Philip-Michael Devos opened the door for Saint John. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect defenseman Simon Despres let a one-timer go from the right side that did gave no chance to the Gatineau netminder. The puck went in at 12:50 of the first period.
In second period, Saint John dominated the shots on goal 13-7 but the score still in favor of the visiting team 2-1. Best scoring chances on Gatineau side came on a power play from the stick of Christian Ouellet, who saw his shot, hit both posts without going in, after DeSerres went down trying to make first save.
After being very solid in first five minutes of first period Saint John netminder seemed unsure of himself, especially on Nicolas Deslauriers’s shot from a very sharp angle. The third Gatineau goal came at 5:01.
Pulling his starting netminder with 4:00 remaining in third period, Saint John head coach Gallant saw his team cut Gatineau lead with only 1:09 left to only one goal differencial. In a Basketball like play, Despres saw his shot go in, his second of the night in an empty net at 18:51.
Saint John dominated the shots on goal 40-24, but as often is the case, in game where the shots on goal wasn’t a real indicator of what the game really was, Gatineau came out with a victory, their first in that series by the score of 3-2.
The series now moves to Gatineau for games three and four on Monday May 9 and Wednesday 11 in Robert Guertin Arena.
The series will shift back to Saint John next Friday May 13.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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