Heartbreaking OT Finish in Game 2
2019-03-24
Stunned is the best way to sum up the feeling inside the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday night as the Quebec Remparts celebrated a 5-4 overtime victory, giving them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round President Cup playoff series versus Halifax.
The building went silent as Philip Kurashev scored on the power play as a shot was deflected past goalie Cole McLaren 11:40 into the extra period. Arnaud Durandeau watched helplessly from the penalty box after he was sent off on a surprising interference call. The Moose forward went offside as he and Felix-Olivier Chouinard collided just inside the Remparts blueline and it appeared as though Chouinard would be heading to the box. After some confusion on the ice the officials eventually sent Durandeau off and Kurashev ended the game just 45 seconds later.
“I thought the play was offside, but I don’t know. It was a penalty and we have a good PK and we were supposed to kill it and the puck bounced in their favour,” Mooseheads Head Coach Eric Veilleux said after the game.
Game 2 was a roller coaster of emotions for the hometown fans who witnessed two goals get called back by the officials. One was waved off immediately as Antoine Morand and a defender got tangled up in front of Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo and Jared McIsaac ripped in a shot. Nonetheless the goal, which would have put Halifax in front 3-2, did not count. Arnaud Durandeau also had a goal overturned as he scored what would have been his third of the game during a dominating third period for the Herd. The goal would have tied the game 4-4 but was overturned on a review for being offside.
Despite the adversity, the Mooseheads were able to come up with the equalizer off the stick of Raphael Lavoie who made a determined rush down the left side and brought the puck back to his forehand to beat Pagliarulo short side to even the score 4-4 with 3:39 remaining in regulation and the 7,657 fans nearly lifted the roof off of the rink.
The game started slowly for the Mooseheads who were without top line centre Samuel Asselin who served a one-game suspension for checking to the head. Dartmouth native Andrew Coxhead put the nervous crowd on edge when he scored from the slot just 3:44 into the opening period as Quebec took a 1-0 lead. Durandeau tied the game 1-1 with a power play goal from a tough angle later in the first. The New York Islanders prospect picked up the first of his two goals when he threw a hard shot on Pagliarulo while standing on the goal line about 10 feet from the net. The Remparts restored the lead about six minutes later as Jeremy Laframboise trickled a shot through the legs of Alex Gravel on a partial break.
Halifax gained some momentum in the second period as Durandeau netted his second of the game when he stepped out from behind the net and scored from another difficult angle. The goal was eventually rewarded after another review to see if the net came off before the puck went in. The Mooseheads took their only lead of the night later in the period as Maxim Trepanier tallied just four seconds after the end of a power play when he hammered home a one-time from a nice circle-to-circle pass by Antoine Morand. It was a feel-good moment for Trepanier who was playing in just his second game since January 10th. He has dealt with injuries since coming to the team in a deadline deal and was knocked back out of the lineup in his first attempt at a return on February 15th. The Moose Country fans gave him a huge ovation after the goal.
Maxim Trepanier celebrates a power play goal in Game 2 of the Mooseheads vs Remparts Round 1 playoff series
The celebrations were short-lived however as Sam Dunn tied the game 3-3 by beating Gravel five-hole and there was a feeling of deflation in the building as Quebec ended the period with a power play goal by Coxhead to take a 4-3 lead. That led to a goaltending change by Veilleux as he elected to put Cole McLaren between the pipes to start the third period.
“I’m not blaming Gravel. The only reason why I did this was to change the momentum of our team,” he said. The coach declined to say which goalie he would turn to in Game 3.
Halifax turned in an excellent effort in the final period of regulation and dominated the puck possession which led to Lavoie’s game-tying goal. With momentum on their side and the building full of energy heading into overtime there was hope that the home team would pull out a victory and even the series, but that buzz turned to shock as Kurashev ended the contest on the power play.
Final shots were 45-37 Mooseheads. The Remparts have been lethal on the man advantage with five goals on the power play including going 3-5 in Saturday’s win. The Mooseheads were 1-5 on the man advantage.
Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo grabbed the win with 41 saves. McLaren took the loss despite stopping seven of eight shots. Gravel had 25 saves on 29 shots.
The Mooseheads are in tough with the next three games scheduled for Quebec City’s Videotron Centre. Game 3 will go Tuesday night, Game 4 is Thursday while Game 5 would be played on Saturday. All three games are 8pm AST start times. Should the series return to Halifax, Games 6 & 7 would be held on Monday, April 1st and Tuesday, April 2nd at 7pm.
