Benn Propels Rockets into Finals
Rimouski, QC – Jamie Benn scored four goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 6-4 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs Monday night at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The win gives the Rockets (2-0) an automatic berth in the Championship Final to be played Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm.
Benn, who also added an assist to complete the five-point game, leads the tournament with eight points including five goals and three assists in two games. Yannick Riendeau had a big game offensively for the Voltigeurs with one goal and three assists for four points as second star of the game.
Benn, the 20-year-old native from Victoria, BC, was named first star in back-to-back games. He opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 4:02 of the first period when he went hard to the net and jammed the puck across the goal line. The Voltigeurs scored two goals to claim the lead after the first period with Riendeau finding his first of the tournament at 14:27 followed by Captain Marc-Olivier Vachon scoring on a one-timer from Riendeau on the power play at 17:10.
Kelowna’s Cody Almond and Drummondville’s Marc-Antoine Desnoyers traded goals midway through the second period before Benn notched his second goal of the game at 18:47 to tie the game 3-3 after two.
Vachon scored his second goal at 7:23 of the third period with a power play marker before the Rockets scored three unanswered to complete the comeback. Benn completed the hat-trick at 9:26 on the power play before notching the game-winner at 11:41 with a soft shot past Marco Cousineau. Almond rounded out the scoring with his second goal of the game at 18:29 of the third period.
The Rockets’ Colin Long was named third star of the game with three assists. Defenceman Tyson Barrie also recorded three assists in the game. 4,225 fans were in attendance at the Colisee. Cousineau took the loss in goal with 17 saves. Mark Guggenberger made 18 saves in the win.
The Rockets (2-0) have a chance to send home the Windsor Spitfires (0-2) Tuesday night when the two teams meet at 7:00 pm in a game that can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS. The Voltigeurs (1-1) have Tuesday off before finishing the round-robin Wednesday against the host Rimouski Oceanic (1-1).
Honourary tournament President Michel Ouellet of the Manitoba Moose was in attendance and met with the media before the game. Ouellet was a member of the Memorial Cup winning Oceanic team in 2000.
Drummondville Post Game Comments
Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL