2024 – QMJHL Finals | The Voltigeurs beat the Drakkar 5-0

(Baie-Comeau) Alexis Gendron scored a hat-trick as the Drummondville Voltigeurs defeated the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 5-0 in the first match of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final on Thursday.

Riley Mercer recorded his first playoff shutout in the Maritimes Quebec Junior Hockey League by making 43 saves. Luke Woodworth and Justin Côté were the other scorers for the Voltigeurs.

“We were opportunistic at times,” Voltigeurs head coach Sylvain Favreau said. It will be a closely fought series on the ice. For us, victory is important, whether it is 1-0 or 5-0. We want to go for the win. »

At the end of a match at the top between the two best teams of the regular season, the Drakkar suffered only their second setback in fourteen games since the start of the play-offs. Charles-Édward Gravel stopped 25 pucks.

“Our puck management was very difficult,” said Drakkar head coach Jean-François Grégoire. Our execution was not there. We lacked cohesion. »

The second game of this series takes place on Friday in Baie-Comeau. She will then travel to Drummondville for the next two meetings, Monday and Tuesday.

The Drakkar participates in the final for the third time in its history, but the first since 2014. He was never crowned champion. The Voltigeurs are participating for the fifth time. The Centre-du-Québec club triumphed in 2009 before losing in the Memorial Cup semifinals.

This year, the Canadian Hockey League’s end-of-season tournament will take place in Saginaw from May 24 to June 2.

Indiscipline sinks the Drakkar

Buoyed by the energy of the crowd, the Drakkar tried to start the match strongly, but penalties soon slowed them down in the top twenty.

A penalty awarded to Anthony Lavoie for a clashing gesture after just 1:49 of play allowed the visitors to escape.

Gendron opened the scoring seven seconds into the power play with a one-timer from the point. He scored his ninth goal of the series, taking advantage of Gravel’s blurred vision.

‘It is (un aréna) noisy, Gendron admitted. It’s something. A crab was thrown onto the ice during the national anthem, I’ve never seen that before. There are trumpets. It’s a lot of noise so we really wanted to break their legs when we left and we did. »

The Drakkar’s captain, Isaac Dufort, then tripped Vsevolod Komarov at 10:24. This time, the Nord-Côtiers’ numerically inferior units held firm, but the Voltigeurs took advantage of the momentum to thread the needle 27 seconds after Dufort returned to the ice.

Côté went to the corner of the ice before passing to Woodworth in the slot, and he didn’t miss his opportunity. He beat the goalkeeper to his right.

Côté also made it 3-0 at 4:28 of the second period. Well placed in front of the net, he pushed the puck behind Gravel after a play initiated by Woodworth. The latter collected his third point of the match on the series.

An unusual move gave the Voltigeurs a buffer of four goals. A Drakkar turnover in his own zone allowed Gendron to take a shot, but he missed the target over the net. However, the puck bounced off the boards before bouncing off Gravel’s back and into the back of the net.

Gendron completed his hat trick by putting the finishing touches on a smart passing play at 2:02 of the third period.

The 21-year-old has scored five goals in his last two games.

“I’ve been doing well lately,” Gendron said. I had some great passes, thanks to my teammates. I scored a lucky goal, but I’ll take it. »