QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — The Shawinigan Cataractes scored all of the goals they would need via the power play leading them to their 4-1 victory over the Quebec Remparts Wednesday night in front of 11,290 fans. After losing against the same Cataractes the previous Sunday, the fans who came to see their new players for the first time since Patrick Roy acquired them, hoped to see their favorite team play better the second time around. Unfortunately, the undisciplined Remparts spent too much time in the penalty box instead of trying to win the game. “We went through tough times on our penalty killing. We aren’t able to score goals lately in last two games. Offensively we didn’t play with confidence. We made some adjustment recently on our penalty killing so it might take some time before players will be at ease to play the system.” Said Remparts head coach Patrick Roy at his post game press conference. Michael Bournival broke the ice for Shawinigan only 17 seconds after referee Eric Charron signaled the first penalty of the game to Quebec right winger Mikhail Stefanovich (5:26). Bournival beat Remparts goaltender Louis Domingue (5:43) to take a 1-0 lead. Quebec scored their only goal of the game with 27 seconds left on the scoreboard in the first period during a power play. Dmitry Kugryshev tied the score 1-1 with his 18th goal of the regular season. Undisciplined penalties to Mikhail Stefanovich (unsportsmanlike conduct at 3:36) and defenseman Martin Lefebvre (delay of game at 4:19) gave a golden opportunity to Shawinigan who added to their lead. Dave Labrecque, with what wold become the game winning goal, scored with the two man advantage, and Olivier Ouellet scored at 6:00 to Shawinigan a 3-1 lead. Another undisciplined penalty, this time from goaltender Louis Domingue for slashing led to the goal that sealed Quebec’s faith, Labrecque’s second goal of the game, 16 seconds after the Quebec penalty. John Audy-Marchessault, who mostly centers the first offensive line, agreed when asked about his teams undisciplined penalties. “If we didn’t stay disciplined on the ice, that’s where we will lose our game. Tonight the referee wasn’t on our side and he won’t always be on our side, so we just have to find a way to skate even more.” When asked to clarify his comments about the referee being “on our side”, Marchessault explained, “I didn’t said that all penalties weren’t deserved but in my mind he missed some like the high stick on Hinse (Olivier), and a trip on Kugryshev. You have crucial moments in a game that if you didn’t called the penalty it can affect the game. At the end of the game we could score on a power play and capitalize on an opportunity.” Domingue wasn’t happy after his first game in front of his new fans since coming over from the Moncton Wildcats. “We didn’t help ourselves by taking stupid penalties. Sure we have new players and chemistry can take time but we can’t find excuses for the penalties. That is what cost us the game. We knew (referee Eric Charron), we know that he calls everything we knew it but we still made the same mistakes, so that’s what really cost us the game.” When speaking about his first time in front of his new fans, number 37 was pleased wit the experience. “Sure it wasn’t the ideal scenario but we will built on that and be ready for next start. We have to have a common goal of not losing too many games. Like I said to the boys in the locker room, I don’t want to lose points in the standings against Moncton (Wildcats), Royn-Moranda (Huskies), and Gatineau (Olympiques). They are all tough teams to play against. They are all important points that we can’t afford to lose with penalties like the ones we took tonight. ” On the other side of the rink, Shawinigan head coach Eric Veilleux was very satisfied about his teams performance. “We put lots of pressure on our opponent by taking possession of lose puck in neutral zone. That’s what helped us tonight. Our goaltender made several key saves when Quebec was on power play.” This weekend Quebec heads off to Gatineau to play against the Olympiques on Friday night while Shawinigan heads to Victoriaville. Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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