Overtime Win Sends Voltigeurs to Semi-Finals
Rimouski, QC – Gabriel Dumont scored the overtime winner at 13:23 of the extra frame to send the Drummondville Voltigeurs to the semi-finals of the MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 3-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic Wednesday night.
Dumont fought hard with the puck down low and found his way to the net to jam home the game-winner for his second goal of the tournament.
The Voltigeurs played nearly the entire game on their heels withstanding constant pressure from the Oceanic which began right off the opening draw. Voltigeurs’ goaltender Marco Cousineau robbed Oceanic forward Jordan Caron midway through the second of three consecutive power play opportunities for Rimouski in the first period. It was one of his 39 saves on the night as third star of the game.
The teams were scoreless until the second when Oceanic forward Luca Cunti poked a rebound through the legs of Cousineau at 1:39 to the delight of a highly energized crowd of 5,062 fans. The Voltigeurs came back strong when Jonathan Brunelle stick handled his way past a defender and around Oceanic goaltender Maxim Gougeon to bury his team’s first goal at 6:07. Dmitry Kulikov blasted a slap shot five-hole on the power play at 11:56 to lift the Voltigeurs to a 2-1 lead going into the third.
Relentless offensive pressure in the third period kept the Oceanic alive and creating chances. Patrice Cormier, the game’s first star, played a physical contest and was rewarded in the third period when he accepted a pass from Marc-Andre Bourdon just inside the blue line where he cut to the middle and fired a low wrist shot past Cousineau to tie the game 2-2.
Voltigeurs’ forward Yannick Riendeau was the second star of the game with two assists. This is the second overtime win for Drummondville as they opened defeated the Windsor Spitfires 3-2 in overtime on Saturday in their first round-robin contest. Rimouski outshot Drummondville 41-20. The 5,062 fans at the Colisee is the highest attendance figure so far at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
The Voltigeurs (2-1) will await the winner of the Oceanic (1-2) and the Windsor Spitfires (1-2) who take to the ice Thursday night at 7:00 pm in a tie-breaker game which can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.
Three of the four Honourary Presidents of the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup were in attendance pre-game and took part in the opening ceremonial faceoff including former Oceanic stars Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars, and Michel Ouellet of the Manitoba Moose. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is the fourth Honourary President but could not attend as the Penguins are still in competition in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL