Game Recap – March 21th
Today was another playoff-flavored game between the Gatineau Olympiques and the Drummondville Voltigeurs who were facing each other for a fourth time this season.
This first period was marked by penalties and it took some time to see an increase in intensity but the Olympiques were first to benefit from that momentum. During their second power play, Zach Dean who was posted behind the net handed the puck over to Manix Landry near the net. The captain took a shot on reception to open the score.
With just under eight minutes to go, the Voltigeurs Alexandre Lamarre received a major penalty for a check to Kyle Havlena’s head. The Gatineau players were unable to take advantage of that power play.
2nd period
The second period was pretty quiet and we had to wait until there was 65 seconds left to see a little more action.
Firstly, after attracting the Olympiques defense towards him, Xavier Simoneau turned on the other side and passed to Justin Côté who scored his 11th of the season with a good receiving shot from the face-off circle.
But the Olympiques responded quickly. Twenty-two seconds later, Gabriel Jackson joined the offense and simply deflected the puck behind Francesco Lapenna.
3rd period
The Voltigeurs took advantage of a double power play early in the period. For his second goal of the game, Justin Côté slapped from the high circle and beat Rémi Poirier to tie the game.
Once more, the Olympiques retaliated quickly. On the penalty kill, Manix Landry slipped over to the left wing and, after falling, put the puck back in front of the net which deflected on an opposing defenseman. The score was now 3-2.
Taking advantage of a fourth power play, the Olympiques controlled the puck and, from the top of the hoops, Zach Dean took a sharp shot to the top of the net to double his team’s lead.
With Gatineau on high energy and again on the power play, a minute and a half later Tristan Luneau slapped the puck on reception to increase the score to 5-2.
The special units were definitely the story of this game. Manix Landry, with his team again shorthanded, took his own return to complete a hat trick and made it his second goal of the game with one man missing.
Final score: 6-2
