A fourth straight win
Gatineau – The Gatineau Olympiques (12-25-2-2) were in action Friday night at the Slush Puppie Centre to face the Val d’Or Foreurs (12-22-2-2). Kian Hodgins was the starting goaltender for the hosts, with a .870 save percentage in 21 games this season. At the other end of the rink, William Blackburn was in net, playing only his 10th game of the campaign. The winner of the game took possession of 17th place in the QMJHL overall standings.
Joey Vetrano was absent from the line-up due to an injury sustained in the previous game against the Armada. He will be out indefinitely. However, the good news for the Olympiques is the return of Sander Wold to the line-up. He played on the 3rd line with Charles Boutin and Jérémie Minville. It’s the Norwegian’s first game with Gatineau since attending the World Junior Championship.
The Olympiques wasted no time in opening the scoring in the first period. Justin Boisselle’s pass found Alexander Gaudio (9th) in front of the net, who sent the disc over Blackburn’s shoulder. After that, the teams exchanged scoring opportunities, but the respective goalkeepers remained solid. Tempers flared between the two teams, as skirmishes broke out after the whistle on several occasions. The Foreurs showed great indiscipline with three penalties already in the period, but the Olympiques’ massive attack was unable to take advantage. The period ended 1-0 in favor of the host team.
In the second period, the Olympiques spent many minutes in the offensive zone, and at the same time limited the number of shots on Hodgins. The Foreurs’ indiscipline continued when William Bishop was penalized for holding. The massive Gatineau attack needed only seconds to double its lead as Justin Boisselle (5th) completed a tic-tac-toe in front of the net. Another skirmish erupts in front of William Blackburn and former Olympique Charles-Antoine Pilote emerges with a roughing penalty. The Olympiques can’t take advantage and are now 1 in 5 with a man down.
In the last minute of play, Val d’Or found the back of the net. Kian Hodgins was unable to control the initial shot by Connor Macey (4th), who took his own rebound and reduced the gap to a single goal in a virtually empty net.
The first half of the third period was relatively quiet. A double-check by Justin Blais led to Gatineau’s first penalty of the game, but it was the Gatineau captain who had the best chance of scoring on the same power play. Charles-Antoine Pilote was then penalized for a double-check. This was the veteran defenseman’s second penalty of the game, cancelling his team’s power play in the process. This time, his penalty proved costly, as Justin Boisselle (6th) scored his second of the game on the power play to restore his team’s two-goal lead. Charles-Antoine Pilote was then punished for the third time in the game, allowing Alexander Gaudio (10th) to score his second of the game. The Olympiques then go on the power play with 1:29 to go for the seventh and final time of the game, but don’t add to their lead.
Final score 4-1 in favor of the Olympiques, who earn a fourth consecutive victory in front of over 3,500 fans at the Slush Puppie Center.
Benoit Desrosiers’ team dominated the shootout 34-23. The head coach was pleased with his team’s defensive play: “They did well. Honestly, our puck management, it’s probably one of the games where we were closest to 60 minutes, where we managed our puck well”.
First star of the game was Justin Boisselle, who finished the night with 1 goal and 2 assists.
The Olympiques’ next game is this Sunday (January 14) against the Shawinigan Cataractes at Centre Gervais Auto.
Text by Philippe Villeneuve
