Victoriaville avoided elimination winning game five at home

QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — A stellar performance by Tigres goaltender Kevin Poulin combine with a third period goal by Philip-Michael Devos lead Victoriaville to a 4-2 wins over Saint John Sea Dogs.
 
After a scoreless second period, the Victoriaville fans witnessed Saint John tying the game on a shorthanded penalty shot by Sea Dogs defenseman Yann Sauve. Saint John was i n a shorthanded situation due to a penalty to Tomas Jurco at 19:58 of second period. The referee allowed a penalty shot to Sea Dogs defenseman Sauve 47 seconds into third period.
 
Sauve beat Poulin tying the game 2-2 and Saint John saw their second period effort finally rewarded in beginning of third. But Victoriaville regained a one goal lead on a goal by Devos 2:59 into third period.
 
Confronted with a do or die game in game five, the Victoriaville Tigres came out playing strong in the first period, scoring two goals five minutes apart in first half of the opening period, on eight shots.
 
Colorado Avalanche prospect defenseman Joel Chouinard saw his blast shot beat Saint John goaltender Marco Cousineau 2:47 of first period. Coming out from behind the net, Yanick Dube scored the Tigres second goal at 7:40.
 
A victim of first two goals by Victoriaville, the Sea Dogs netminder made a huge save on Philip-Michael Devos preventing Victoriaville from adding another goal to their lead.
 
The Tigres carried the two goal lead until last minute in the opening period. But before the end of the first period, Stanislav Galiev got Saint John on the board by digging a rebound from a Yan Sauve previous shot and beat  Victoriaville goalie Kevin Poulin with only 29.9 seconds remaining in first period.
 
The Sea dogs trailed 8- 2 in shots in goal department in first ten minutes of the first period but came back ending with 15 shots on goal. Victoriaville ended with 14.
 
Victoriaville goaltender Poulin was the star of his team in second period, making key saves on Jonathan Huberdeau on three occasions, one on a partial breakaway, another on a breakaway, and a third from the slot.
 
He also made saves under pressure on Michael Kirkpatrick and Danick Gauthier and he successfully kept his team’s one goal lead.
 
Saint John dominated the shots on goal 16-8 and 31-22 after two. A penalty shot allowed Saint John defenseman Yann Sauve to successfully beat Poulin, tying the score at two goals apiece.
 
Devos scored what would became Victoriaville’s game winning goal 2:59 into third period.
 
With less than a minute remaining in the game, Tigres goaltender Poulin left the game being replace by Antonio Mastropietro. Poulin left the game with what we believed to be a right leg injury. The question on every Tigres fans lips now is will Poulin be able to be between the pipes on next Monday night in Saint John.
 
In the other series, the Friday night 4-2 wi by Moncton over Drummondville eliminated the Voltigeurs four games to one. The Wildcats were the first team to earn a place in the QMJHL President Cup Final.
 
Goaltenders:
Saint John : Marco Cousineau 28 shots 25 save
Victoriaville : Kevin Poulin 45 shots 43 saves
 
Power plays
Saint John : 0-5
Victoriaville : 0-4
 
Three stars selections
First: VIC Kevin Poulin
Second: VIC Joel Chouinard
Third: VIC Emmanuel Boudreau  
 
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com