QUEBEC CITY P.Q. – A two goal performance by Shawinigan forward Maxime Legault and right winger Nicholas Petersen led the Cataractes to the 6-1 win over the Quebec Remparts and will now head to the QMJHL finals against the Drummondville Voltigeurs. In their preceding series against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Quebec was able to face the challenge of having their backs against the wall and successfully avoid elimination. This time around, it was just too much to ask to for a repeat performance. Shawinigan scored the first two goals of the game with less then six minutes remaining in the opening period. Nicholas Petersen, with first of two goals, put the puck behind Quebec goaltender Charles Lavigne off of a rebound shot from Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll at 15:35. The Cataractes added their second goal of the game before the horn sounded to announc the end of the period when Legault scored his first of the night off of a great pass from Dave Labrecque beating Lavigne between his pads with 45 seconds remaining in the first period. A penalty to Remparts left winger Marc-Olivier Vallerand (high sticking 4:59) gave Shawinigan their chance to score their third goal of the game. Mathew Pistilli completed the effort from Pierre-Alexandre Vandall and Charles-Olivier Roussel at 5:23. Quebec broke the ice scoring their only goal of the night when David Gilbert put the puck behind Shawinigan goaltender Timo Pielmeier but referees Marc Muylert and Pascal St-Jacques needed to go upstairs before allowing the goal at 8:36. Nicholas Petersen scored his second of the night, Shawinigan’s fourth goal, beat the Quebec netminder at 10:34. The Cataractes scored their fifth goal on a shorthanded situation when Legault scored his second of the game at 18:24. Pierre-Alexandre Vandall completed the scoring for Shawinigan with their sixth goal and nailing shut the Remparts coffin for good at 9:47 of the third period. Those who follow the QMJHL believed the Cataractes were one of the best QMJHL teams in the league at the beginning of the regular season. Now, they will face rival Drummondville, a team in their division that promises to be an exciting final. Quebec on the other hand played their hearts out. They faced the challenge of avoiding elimination in front of their fans, but it was too much to ask of them. They simply faced a better team in the end. “Besides the first game of this series, I think we played our style of hockey,” said Shawinigan head coach Eric Veilleux after the clinching game. “Honestly, I think we earned the series. The guys worked very well and we know that it’s never easy. We worked hard to win games, we didn’t just play for fun.” When both teams stepped on the ice, one team tried to avoid elimination, the other with a mission to end the series in Quebec. “We came here to play a good game,” said Veilleux. “We dominated them in previous games but we came here to play a good game and we didn’t want to go back home playing another game. We never know what could happen if they won game four and we come here with series tied at two.” When asked what was the turning point in that game, Veilleux had this to say. ” Our first goal on power play, the one that made the score 4-1, might be the turning point. With the score 3-1 and the crowd still in the game, they reacted to a big check from one of their players, but I think that goal effected the crowd and make them more silent.” With two assists, Dave Labrecque played a great game contributing to his team’s victory. The center seemed happy to face Drummondville in the finals. “Hearing the GO CATS GO chant here in Quebec from our fans who came to see us, especially when they weren’t a lot of them motivated us on the bench. Yes I’m surprise that we won in five, we expected a tougher series with the talent they have on the other side. We worked very hard all five games. We trailed 3- 0 in Game 4 showed lots of character to come back. I think it was a turning point in the series.” Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll also with two assists played another solid game for Shawinigan. The recent free agent signee by the Colorado Avalanche didn’t play very well in the first two games in Quebec, with only one point, an assist. “Winning against Quebec especially in front of their fans with a big crowd is something good. I remembered when they beat us in the playoffs so it’s always satisfying to beat them. It’s nothing against them, but beating them in front of a big crowd is always good.” McNicoll said. McNicoll agreed with the fact that the turning point in the series for them was when they came back to win Game 4 after trailing 0-3. “Sure it was the turning point for us. Everyone thought it was a done deal for them but to come behind like we did might have hurt them. We are happy to be part of the finals playing against the best team in the QMJHL.” Being ousted from the playoffs meant the end of the junior careers of three 20 years old players for Quebec. For one, Charles Lavigne, who was the main reason why the Remparts played well against Shawinigan. “We don’t have any excuses. The team that wanted the series the most wins,” said the veteran netminder. “The last game in Shawinigan hurt us real bad. We didn’t have to hide it. We have to give credit to them. Their season is far from over.” Patrick Roy, the head coach of Quebec Remparts, said lots of good things about the goaltender from Moncton last summer. “He was one of the reasons for our success from the beginning to the end. I would like to thank him because when he arrived at training camp we all of the questions about him and he was able to show people what he was able to do.” “Honestly, when you think about it, he had big shoes to fill. All of our fans remembered Kevin Desfosses. Everyone knows how Kevin was appreciated by the fans. We always said the guy who will come after Kevin will have big shoes to fill so he did it exceptionally well. Fans in the end adored him. I’m happy to give him a chance and I only hope someone will give him an invitation or tryout somewhere.” Now the QMJHL final will be between Shawinigan and Drummondville starting next week. Shots on goal: Shawinigan 35 Quebec 26 Power plays: Shawinigan 2-6 Quebec 0-3 Three Stars of the game: 1-Charles Lavigne (Que.) 2- Guillaume Monast (Que.) 3-Benjamin Breault (Que.) Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.