VOLTIGEURS TAKE STRANGLEHOLD ON SERIES WITH GAME 3 TRIUMPH
The Drummondville Voltigeurs are one win away from a Gilles-Courteau Trophy Championship. In front of a noisy, sold-out crowd at Centre Marcel-Dionne, the hometown Volts skated to a 6-2 victory over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to take a commanding 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven championship series.
Ethan Gauthier scored twice and added an assist while Luke Woodworth recorded three helpers to pace to Volts. Vsevolod Komarov, Sam Oliver, Lukas Landry and Justin Côté also scored for Drummondville, who pumped 30 shots on Baie-Comeau netminder Charles-Edward Gravel. Justin Poirier and Isaac Dufort countered for the Drakkar, who finally solved Voltigeurs goalie Riley Mercer, who made 17 saves in the win.
It was all Volts early on, as they outshot the Drakkar 17-6 en route to a 4-0 first period lead. Komarov opened the scoring at 3:34, keeping the play alive at the Baie-Comeau blue line before walking into the slot and firing a backhand out of Gravel’s reach for his fifth of the playoffs. After sustained pressure by the Drakkar on a power play, the Volts would double their lead at the 11:55 mark. Landry’s initial shot pinballed to Oliver, who tucked the puck home for his seventh postseason tally. Drummondville would make it a 3-0 game just 92 seconds later. Woodworth forced a neutral-zone turnover, skated over the Baie-Comeau blue line and dropped a centering feed for Gauthier, who hammered a one-timer past Gravel. The onslaught continued at the 16:42 mark when Huchette, streaking behind the Drakkar net, fed a wide-open Landry in front for his second of the playoffs.
The Voltigeurs would not let up in period two and capped off the frame by holding a 6-1 advantage. Côté’s ninth of the postseason extended Drummondville’s lead to five at the 7:58 mark after the veteran took a feed from Woodworth along the half boards and fired home a perfect backhander after walking out in front uncontested. Baie-Comeau found the back of the net for the first time in the series on the power play at the 16:41 mark when Poirier snapped home a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Matyas Melovsky for his league-leading 18th of the postseason. The goal snapped Mercer’s shutout streak in the Final at 137 minutes and 52 seconds. The Voltigeurs quickly struck back when Gauthier converted a perfect diagonal pass from Komarov for his 13th of the postseason just 75 seconds later. That would cap off the scoring in a second period that saw the home side hold a 11-4 advantage in shots on net.
The Drakkar would put forth a better showing in the third period, outshooting the Voltigeurs 9-2 and closing the scoring at the 10:26 mark when Dufort, streaking into the offensive zone, stripped the puck away from the Drummondville defender before snapping a wrister past Mercer for his seventh of the postseason.
The Voltigeurs will be aiming for a series sweep and their first QMJHL playoff title since 2009 when they host the Drakkar, tomorrow night, at 7pm ET for Game 4 of the series. The winner of this series moves on to the 2024 Memorial Cup Presented by DOW in Saginaw, Michigan. All Gilles-Courteau Trophy Final action can be seen on TSN, RDS and CHL TV.
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