QUEBEC CITY P.Q.— Not interested in going back to Bathurst next Sunday for a possible Game Six, the Quebec Remparts made sure to finish the job Friday night by winning Game Five at home 6-5 over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Most hockey fans felt before the series that the series might be an easy one for Quebec but Bathurst surprised a lot of people who worked hard all series forcing the Remparts to play their best hockey.
The Titan’s ended the first period leading 3-2 on goals by defenseman Ryan McKiernan, Jeremie Malouin and Danick Malouin, two were scored on the power play. Seeing his starting goaltender giving up two goals on the first six shots he faced, Bathurst head coach Ron Choules pulled goaltender Francois Lacerte and sent it Guillaume Nadeau to replace him but Nadeau left the game after only three minutes of play in order to give Lacerte a chance to calm down.
Each team scored a goal in the second period. David Gilbert scored 1:16 into the second period to give Bathhurst a two goal lead, but Quebec reduced the Titan’s lead to one when Mikhail Stefanovich scored his second goal of the series with the man advantage. Bathurst would still lead 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Besides Mikael Tam, who scored Quebec’s first two goals of the third period, Stefanovich scored his second of the game to complete Quebec’s offensive for the night. Taylor Lambke scored last Bathurst goal of the game on the power play.
“Everyone need to make excuses toward us,” Bathurst head coach Choules said after his team loses game five being eliminated. “It wasn’t a walk in the park ask Patrick ( Roy). We don’t have players like Danick Paquette, Ryan Bourque Stefanovich or Kugryshev on our team, we gave everything we got. We have lots of character, Warriors on this team it’s unbelievable, I’m proud of my players” Explained Titan coach.
Quebec will have to wait to find out who their next opponent is which might become either Victoriaville or Rimouski.
Elsewhere in the QMJHL.
In Rimouski, the Sagueneens won an offensive battle and avoided elimination with a 6-5 overtime win. Rock Regimbald scored 1:28 into overtime forcing both teams back to Chicoutimi. Adam Bourque-Leblanc, Alexis Piette, Antoine Roussel and Nicolas Therrien were the rest of the goal scorers for Chicoutimi. Jakub Culek and Alex Emond (two goals each) and Alex Belzile replied for Rimouski.
In Victoriaville, The Tigres came out the winner taking a 3-2 lead in the series with a 4-3 win over Shawinigan on Friday night. Philip-Michael Devos, Tomas Kubalik, Joel Champagne and Joel Chouinard scores goals for Victoriaville. Pierrick Martel, Antoine Houde-Caron and Joe Dube replied for Shawinigan.
In Saint John, the Sea Dogs won their series 4-1 with a 7-2 victory over Prince Edward Island Rocket. Jonathan Huberdeau (three goals), Mike Thomas (two), Danick Gauthier and Stanislav Galiev scored for Saint John. Benjamin Casavant and Jonathan Bonneau scored for PEI.
In Rouyn-Norand, the Huskies won 9-4 over Val-d’Or giving Rouyn-Noranda a 3-2 lead in the series. Pier-Luc Giguere (three goals), Christophe Losier (two), Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Jeff Desjardins and Jordan Caron scored for the Huskies. Samuel Morneau (two), Marco Scandella and Maxime Sauve got on the board for the Foreurs.
In Montreal, the Gatineau Olympiques avoided elimination with a 3-2 win over the Montreal Junior. Denis Kindl, Joshua Domingues and Christian Ouellet scores goals for the Olympiques. Matthew Brenton scored both of Montreal’s goals. Montreal leads the series 3-2. Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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