QMJHL Playoffs: Huskies First to Advance to Round 3

With their 4-0 sweep of Halifax Wednesday Night, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies were the first team to punch their ticket to the 3rd round of the QMJHL Playoffs. In a game that was indicative of the series as a whole, the Huskies were simply a better team. 

It can’t be said that the game was over when it started, but it didn’t take long. An energetic start by the Herd was quickly dampened by an Eliot Ogonowski goal at 6:15. It was all Huskies from then on. When Benjamin Bruelle scored on a double tip-in at 15:13, a quick view of the benches told more of the story than the scoreboard. Laughs, smiles and eagerness beamed on the Huskies bench while blank stares came from that of Halifax. There weren’t looks of quitting, but an acknowledgment of a stark reality; the Huskies had as many goals as the Moosheads did shots. The period would end that way, with a 3-0 score and a more telling 20-3 shot count. 

The Huskies would add to the lead in the second but, still, Halifax showed no quit. Quinn Kennedy would get the Mooseheads on the scoreboard at 15:07, but it was too little too late. The Huskies continued to dominate at both sides of the ice, still allowing just 8 total shots.

The third period had more the feel of a formality as the game and series wound down. Rouyn took their collective skate off the gas offensively, but continued their smothering, stingy defense. An empty netter by Lucas Veilleux was the lone marker for a final score of 5-1.

The complete one-sidedness of the series looked like what many expected would happen to Halifax in the opening round. Thanks to the magic they captured in that first round, it was Rouyn-Noranda who got to enjoy a series when the magic ran out. The Huskies now wait to see who they will face in Round 3.