Team QMJHL rebounds to defeat Russia in Series finale

Team QMJHL opened the final game with a bang and held on to defeat Russia 6-4 in the final game of the 2015 CHL Canada Russia Series Thursday in Halifax.

Team QMJHL hammered the final nail into the coffin of Team Russia with a 6-4 victory to seal a dominant 15-3 triumph in points at the 2015 CHL Canada-Russia Series.

Overpowered as they were throughout the series, the Russians were unable to battle back from a tough first period that saw Team QMJHL fly out of the blocks to a 4-0 lead. In the end all the Russians could muster was a tight 3-2 win over the QMJHL on Tuesday night in Rouyn-Noranda.

This series saw the normally mighty Russians get outscored 24-13 overall. With their win on Thursday night at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, the QMJHL also improved its all-time record over the Russians in this series to 14-9-3.

Leading the charge for the QMJHL was Player of the Game and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Mathieu Joseph of the Saint John Sea Dogs who notched a pair of goals, including the one that iced the game late in the third period. Jeremy Lauzon of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies also chipped in with a goal and two assists. Chosen 52nd overall by the Boston Bruins at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the talented defenceman also got things rolling by opening the scoring with a nice one-timer from the point.

Buzzing all night long was New York Islanders’ draftee Anthony Beauvillier of the Shawinigan Cataractes who scored a goal and assisted on what proved to be the game-winning goal scored by Nicolas Meloche of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar early in the third period.

Beauvillier’s everyday teammate in Shawinigan and gifted blue line quarterback Samuel Girard was up to his old tricks with a pair of assists in the QMJHL’s convincing win over Russia.

Between the pipes, the QMJHL got a solid effort from Charlottetown Islanders’ goalie Mason McDonald who kicked aside 27 of the 31 shots he faced. It proved to be a tougher night in the crease for the Russians who once again entrusted their net to Alexander Trushkov who had played brilliantly in their win over the Q on Tuesday night. This time around, Trushkov allowed three goals on the first nine shots he faced before getting pulled in favor of Maxim Tretiak in the first period. Tretiak went on to stop 22 of the 25 shots that came his way.

Appropriately enough, leading the way on offence for the Russian side with a pair of goals was Evgeny Svechnikov who has spent the past two seasons in the QMJHL with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. The talented winger was also a first round pick of the Detroit Red Wings at No. 19 overall this past summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

Other standouts for the Russia statistically speaking were Svechnikov’s teammate with Cape Breton Maxim Lazarev who chipped in with three assists. Andrey Svetkalov added two helpers of his own.

As the Russians leave this series scratching their heads, they have their power-play to blame for much of their woes offensively. The collective penalty-killing units of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL held the Russians to only two power-play goals over the six games of the series. Their power-play had every chance to be the difference maker in this sixth and final game, but the QMJHL stood tall holding to them to one-for-five on Thursday night.

2015 CHL Canada Russia Series

Game 1 – Monday, November 9 at Kelowna, BC – WHL wins 7-3
WHL Player of the Game – Collin Shirley (1G, 3A)
Russia Player of the Game – Artur Lauta (1G)
Game Summary

Game 2 –Tuesday, November 10 at Kamloops, BC – WHL wins 4-2
WHL Player of the Game – Jayce Hawryluk (1G, 1A)
Russia Player of the Game – Maxim Tretiak (35 SV)
Game Summary

Game 3 – Thursday,November 12 at Owen Sound, ON – OHL wins 3-0
OHL Player of the Game – Mackenzie Blackwood (25 SV)
Russia Player of the Game – Kirill Pilipenko
Game Summary

Game 4 –Monday, November 16 at Windsor, ON – OHL wins 2-1
OHL Player of the Game – Mitch Marner (1A)
Russia Player of the Game – Alexander Trushkov (36 SV)
Game Summary

Game 5 – Tuesday, November 17 at Rouyn-Noranda, QC – Russia wins 3-2
QMJHL Player of the Game – Nicolas Roy (1G)
Russia Player of the Game – Daniil Vovchenko
Game Summary

Game 6 – Thursday, November 19 at Halifax, NS – QMJHL wins 6-4
QMJHL Player of the Game – Mathieu Joseph (2G)
Russia Player of the Game – Evgeni Svechnikov (2G)
Game Summary

For news and roster information, please visit canadarussia.chl.ca.