QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. —Playing their best hockey of the series wasn’t enough for Drummondville, losing 2- 1 in overtime to the Quebec Remparts. Alexandre Contois played the hero for Quebec scoring 2:30 into overtime.
Quebec now will face the Halifax Mosseheads in quarterfinal.
Facing elimination in front of the home crowd often leads to cautious play. Drummondville received the first power play fo the night but was turned away Louis Domingue who was solid making key saves.
Quebec thought they had broken the ice on Desjardins’ second great scoring opportunity in the period thinking the puck beat Alexandre Veronneau between his pads, but the puck never crossed the goal line. Reviewing the play on video, the referee’s decision was the right one.
Quebec got the best, in shots on goal department in opening period 10-4.
Despite having had 31 goals scored against them in the first three games of the series, Drummonville was tied with the Remparts at 0 until 17:04 of the second.
Frederick Roy redirected a shot from Remparts defenseman Vincent Barnard, giving Quebec a 1-0 lead with 2:56 to play in the second period.
Another penalty, this one to Quebec center Mikhail Grigorenko, proved to be costly for Patrick Roy’s team. Olivier Archambault with his first of the series brought both teams back to square one, with 30.8 seconds remaining.
After a scoreless third period, Quebec center Contois came to haunt his former team scoring the game winning goal and series clincher with 17:30 to go in the overtime.
After the game, Alex Emond one of three Drummondville veteran players who ended his junior career at 20-years of age commented on the game.
“We regroup ourselves, we knew we were able to beat them. We beat them in regular season. I missed an excellent opportunity in third period, we played very well tonight, we should be proud of what we accomplished, during this game,” Emond said.
“Being here in Drummondville is one of my best moments in my career,” said the assistant captain. “I have had a great season, I’ was happy to be there with the guys in locker room I’m very happy to end my career here.”
For Drummondville head coach Mario Duhamel he praised his players’ effort in game four.
“It was definitely our best performance of the series, we showed great signed in our last game but as we have said in last game, we felt after two periods we have played about the same game. Tonight we have been slow to start offensively but we played very well defensively. Offensively as the game progress we generated more offense.”
On the other side, Roy answered more questions about what happened in Montreal following Pierre Gauthier been fired last night rather than the game his team has just won.
Since his name has been mentioned as possible replacement in Montreal as possible new general manager or head coach the Quebec Remparts general manager and head coach and also part owner of the junior franchise answered more questions about the Montreal Canadiens situation.
“To be honest with you I have no control on any decisions they make in Montreal. On my side, I certainly want to focus on my team we will play against Halifax. I mean it is where I want to put my focus on. I don’t see it as a distraction actually but in the same time it is important, I have respect for our fans and also our players to be entirely focus on our next round.”
“Yes, I have to be honest, yes I’m surprised but in the same time M. Molson thought it was the right time to make that decision. I think there is no great time when you make a decision. It’s time to move on. The day Pierre Gauthier and Bob Gainey took the job, I’m sure they though one day that would happened. Everybody is aware of that. I think they gave everything they had for this organization and maybe M. Molson thought it was time for new direction.” Said Roy after his team eliminated Drummondville.
Quebec will face off against Halifax Mosseheads in next round in format 2-3-2 due to the distance between the two cities that is more than 800 kilometer.
Other games in QMJHL series played yesterday (Tuesday night)
Saint John 5 vs. Cape Breton 1 ( Saint John swept Cape Breton 4-0)
Shawinigan 6 vs. Rouyn-Noranda 2 ( Shawinigan swept Rouyn-Noranda 4-0)
Blainville-Boisbriand 4 vs. Gatineau 3 (first overtime) (Blainville-Boisbriand swept Gatineau 4-0)
Victoriaville 5 vs. Baie-Comeau 4 (first overtime) (Baie-Comeau swept Victoriaville 4-0)
Halifax 5 vs. Moncton 4 (first overtime) ( Halifax swept Moncton 4-0)
Rimouski 4 vs. Val-d’Or 3 ( Rimouski swept Val-d’Or 4-0)
Chicoutimi 4 vs. Acadie-Bathurst 2 ( Chicoutimi leads series 3-1)
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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