QMJHL Playoffs: Juggernauts Jolted

All four series’ resumed Tuesday night, with the venues switching to the lower seeded teams home ice. Two teams moved forward to take commanding 3 Games to 0 leads, while two teams saw their leads reduced to 2 games to 1. Both teams seeing their leads reduced weren’t the one’s most expected to see in the loss column. Moncton and Rimouski each crossed the Saint Lawrence to encounter teams reinvigorated by raucous crowds and a little home cooking.

Baie Comeau: After a scoreless opening frame, the Drakkar scored twice in the second, and three times in the third for a 5-2 win at Centre Sportif Alcoa. The Wildcats would make it interesting by tying the score midway through the 3rd, but back-to-back goals by Louis-Charles Plourde and Raoul Bollard showed the Drakkar wouldn’t be rattled. Moncton leads the series 2-1.

Chicoutimi: A sold out Centre Georges-Vezina provided the spark, and the Sagueneens responded by scoring in the first minute of play. After the early goal, the match turned to a defensive battle until the 3rd period when the Sags would add two more on their way to treating the crowd to a 3-0 shutout.  Rimouski leads the series 2-1.

Sherbrooke: A sparse crowd with plenty of yellow highlights saw a flowing, end to end first period with quality scoring chances for both teams. Only the vesting Cataractes would score, taking a 2-0 lead into the second. The second period would get interesting and chippy with the Phoenix coming back to even the score on Mavrick Lachance’s short handed goal. The Sags would respond just over a minute later and never looked back, adding both insurance and empty net goals in the third. With the 5-2 road win, Shawinigan leads the series 3-0. 

Halifax: The visiting Huskies would find the net 3 times before a lone Moosehead goal midway through the 2nd prevented a shutout. As the clock ticked down on the 4-1 score, the boo-birds came out, showing the home crowd’s frustration with late game penalties and an overall lackluster second round that appears on its way to becoming a sweep. Rouyn-Noranda leads the series 3-0.

All 4 series resume tonight with two teams eyeing sweeps.