Drozg, Manseau and Askew light the lamp!
Over the last 5 days of October, the Shawinigan Cataractes had the task to face CHL’s Top 10 finalist Rouyn-Noranda, division leader Quebec Remparts and travel to Baie-Comeau to face the Drakkar. Daniel Renaud’s players showed great determination but it wasn’t enough. Therefore, they fell short two times out of three, against the Huskies (5-2) and the Drakkar (4-3). Against the Québec Remparts, a strong start led Shawinigan to the victory (5-3).
In the game for 55 minutes…
Fans had the chance to watch a tight hockey game between Shawinigan and Rouyn-Noranda on wednesday night. Both teams scored twice with the man advantage. For the Cataractes, Jan Drozg (4) received and magnificient backhand pass from Vasily Glotov to score near the end of the first period. These two players really seem to find themselves on the powerplay!
Also, early in the third, it was Antoine’s Demers (6) turn to find the back of the net, tying the game at two. Despite a great effort, the Huskies scored with 6 minutes left in the game to take a 3-2 lead.
Shawinigan did try their best with only 2 minutes left in the game, but Rouyn-Noranda scored twice in a empty net to seal the deal and win it 5-2.
In the net, for the Cataractes, Lucas Fitzpatrick made 22 saves.
Strong start is enough for the win
The Québec Remparts took many penalties and it cost them big as Shawinigan scored 4 goals in the first period. Two of those came on the powerplay. First, Jan Drozg found Vasily Glotov (8) with a spectacular cross-side pass to open the score within the fourth minute.
Then, 90 seconds later, Jérémy Manseau (3), also with the man advantage, took the goalie by surprise with a one-timer from the slot.
With almost 8 minutes played in the first, Manseau’s second of the game sent Oliver Troop to the showers when Jason Horvath’s shot from the point was tipped in front of the net to make it 2-0. On the play, Leon Denny also got an assist.
After watching Québec score their first of the game, Jan Drozg (5) used the defenceman as a screen to beat Olivier Chalifour by surprise and give back Shawinigan their 3 goal lead.
The second period of play saw Québec scoring the only goal of the period when Luke Kirwan beat Russian netminder Mikhail Denisov with only 57 seconds of play.
In the third, Québec got things interesting with 2 minutes to play when Philipp Kurashev created a turnover at Shawinigan’s blue line and then beating Denisov with a low wrist shot on his glove side.
Daniel Renaud’s team kept her head up and defended their lead greatly. Gabriel Sylvestre (4) notched the insurance goal with 27 seconds left in the third when he cleared his zone in an empty net.
In the net, Mikhail Denisov saved 20 shots.
Denisov shines in a 4-3 loss
In Baie-Comeau, throughout the first 40 minutes of play, Mikhail Denisov was absolutely outstanding, giving his team a chance to battle for the win. He stopped 25 of 27 shots and many of those saves came when the Drakkar was on fire!
First, Cameron Askew (3) opened the scoring when he completed Antoine Demers and Tommy Cardinal hard work behind the goal.
After watching Baie-Comeau score twice in the second period, Jérémy Manseau (5) tied the game in the third.
Only 17 seconds later, Gabriel Fortier took Shawinigan by surprise and gave back the lead to Baie-Comeau.
Unfortunately, despite a great game from power forward Cameron Askew (he scored his second of the game in the last minute of play) and 36 shots on net (19 came in the third period), Baie-Comeau managed to beat Shawinigan by a final score of 4-3.
In the net, Mikhail Denisov realized 30 saves.
