Morand scores four to give Titan 2-0 series lead
BATHURST – The Acadie-Bathurst Titan took on the Victoriaville Tigres in front of a sold out crowd Saturday night for game two of their QMJHL semi-final series. Antoine Morand exploded offensively to propel the Titan to a big victory and a 2-0 series edge.
Morand opened the scoring 5:55 into the game with his second of the post-season assisted by Olivier Galipeau. The goal came on the powerplay. Simon Lafrance and Vitalii Abramov scored goals 34 seconds apart at 8:53 and 9:27 respectively to put the Tigres in front 2-1 after one.
In the second period the Titan regained the lead. First, it was Morand with his second tally of the night to even it up at 7:40 with German Rubtsov and Noah Dobson notching helpers. Samuel L’Italien first of the playoffs gave the Titan the lead 3-2 at 14:44 with assists going to Liam Murphy and Ethan Crossman. Jeffrey Viel pushed the lead to 4-2 for the home side with just under four minutes to play in the middle frame and it would remain that way through 40 minutes of play.
Just before the midway point of the third period Morand completed the hat trick giving the Titan a 5-2 edge, assisted by Rubtsov and Justin Ducharme. At 13:09 Felix Pare got one back for the Tigres however Morand potted his fourth of the evening 3:30 later to restore the three-goal cushion. Galipeau and Dobson grabbed the assists on the Anahiem Ducks prospects’ fifth of the post-season. Adam Holwell’s powerplay tally 41 seconds later capped off a 7-3 victory for the Titan to give them a 2-0 lead in the series.
Three Stars:
1st Star – Antoine Morand
2nd Star – Samuel L’Italien
3rd Star – Olivier Galipeau
