Océanic force tiebreaker with 4-0 blanking of Remparts
Wednesday May 27, 2015
Rimouski coach Serge Beausoleil had some strong words for his club after Monday’s 7-3 loss to the Kelowna Rockets. Clearly those didn’t fall on deaf ears.
The Océanic came out with purpose on Wednesday at the Colisée Pepsi, burying the rival Québec Remparts 4-0 behind goals from Justin Samson, Michael Joly, Christopher Clapperton and Alexis Loiseau. The win is another victory for the Océanic at the Colisée Pepsi after they took all three in the President Cup finals.
The QMJHL Champions played like winners in front of a jam-packed facility, taking the crowd out of the equation with a commanding performance to force a tiebreaker game on Thursday against the same Remparts club.
“I think we’re getting back on track but in the meantime there’s still a lot to be done,” said Rimouski coach Serge Beausoleil post-game. “Nothing is done. We have a difficult situation to manage right now and we’re playing for our lives. That’s a good game for us, but we still have to do it again tomorrow.”
The Océanic victory marks the first time in MasterCard Memorial Cup history that three teams have finished the round robin with a 1-2 record.
As was the case in most of their President Cup final action, the road team came out with jump as the Océanic skated to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes.
Justin Samson got Rimouski on the board, scoring in his first game of the tournament after Océanic coach Serge Beausoleil shuffled up his lineup. Samson buried a turnaround shot along the ice through the legs of Fucale on the powerplay at 14:36.
Rimouski gained some insurance inside the final minute as QMJHL Final Game 7 double overtime hero Michael Joly took advantage of some extra time and space thanks to a Québec penalty killer without a stick. Joly walked around his man, gaining an opportunity to get a clean shot from the top of the circle and made no mistake, snapping a wrister over the shoulder of Fucale at 19:05.
Rimouski outshot Québec 14-8 in the first period, silencing a big crowd on hand to see the host club.
The Remparts nearly had life to start the second as scrappy winger Jérome Verrier got in behind the defence, beating Desrosiers with a hard shot but couldn’t get it past the post as a loud clang kept the Rimouski lead at two.
The post, along with a crossbar off the stick of Vladimir Tkachev later in the frame, is the closest the Remparts would come on the night as Rimouski doubled their lead to 4-0.
Christopher Clapperton crept in off the point on the powerplay to clean up the garbage at 5:36, capitalizing on a broken play to bury a rebound past an outstretched Fucale.
Alexis Loiseau furthered the margin with another powerplay marker at 12:40, taking a pass from Jan Kostalek to beat a screened Fucale over the shoulder, spelling the end of the night for the Remparts goaltender.
Callum Booth took over to hold the Océanic off the board the rest of the way as the Océanic outshot the Remparts 42-27 on the night.
Desrosiers had to put in some work for his shutout, making third period saves off Anthony Duclair and Marc-Olivier Roy from in tight to stay perfect.
Desrosiers earned third star honours while Loiseau was the second star with a goal and an assist while going an impressive 12-for-17 in the faceoff circle. Michael Joly was the first star with a goal and three helpers on the night.
Rimouski and Québec go at it again on Thursday night, this time in a tiebreaker to determine who will advance to the MasterCard Memorial Cup semi-final against the WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets (1-2).
Game time on Thursday is 7:30pm and can be seen live across the country on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific as well as on TVA Sports throughout Québec.
