Tough week for the Cataractes
Last week wasn’t a easy one for the Shawinigan Cataractes as the team suffered three losses. Against Gatineau and Chicoutimi, the Cataractes didn’t manage to take control of the game. On the other hand, against Cape-Breton, the game could have gone either way.
Bellemare and Abramov shine
On friday night in Gatineau, despite more than 40 shots on goal, the Cataractes suffered a 7-1 loss against Russian superstar Vitaly Abramov and the Gatineau Olympiques. The story of the game came in the first period of play when Gatineau’s netminder, Mathieu Bellemare, made spectacular saves during 3 Shawinigan powerplays to keep his team in the game. A few minutes later, Gatineau scored twice before the end of the first intermission. The rest of the night belonged to Gatineau. For the Cataractes, Antoine Demers was the only one to beat Bellemare when he deflected Jason Horvath’s shot from the point.
Fitzpatrick sharp despite the loss to Cape-Breton
More than 3000 fans watched the Cataractes battle hard on saturday night against Cape-Breton. They almost saw their favorite team win thier first game of the season when Shawinigan lost 3-2 against the Screaming Eagles. Gabriel Sylvestre, with a beauty as he got out of the penalty box, and Vasily Glotov were the goal scorers in this one. But the Shawinigan player who shined the most was Lucas Fitzpatrick. The young goalie gave up 3 goals on 33 shots but kept his team in the game at numerous occasions.
Alexis Shank shuts the Shawinigan attack down
Just like Shawinigan, the Saguenéens were also looking for a win on sunday afternoon. With only 1 win since the beginning of the season, Chicoutimi was one spot ahead of the Cataractes in the standings. Chicoutimi netminder Alexis Shank stopped all the shots he faced (40 shots) and German Rubstov took charge of the offense as Chicoutimi offered a 5-0 win to their coach Yannick Jean, an eighth loss in a row for the Cataractes. After the game, Daniel Renaud took the time to speak with the players and the press. His message was clear. Nobody had given up. Only a team effort would get the team out of this slump.
General manager Martin Mondou also spoke with the media saying that he embraced Daniel Renaud’s work with the players, the was no reason to panic and that the training staff had his entire confidence. Also, he said he was waiting for some news concerning Branden Gignac’s return with the team.
Rivalry weekend in the QMJHL
For the traditional rivalry weekend, the Cataractes will face the Victoriaville Tigres two times in less than 24 hours. The first meeting will take place in Shawinigan on friday night and the second one in Victoriaville on saturday night.
