Juniors dominate despite depleted lineup
February 27, 2010 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Montreal Juniors News Release
Montreal - On the heels of a bitter 2-1 shootout loss against the Gatineau Olympiques, the Montreal Juniors rolled into Shawinigan's Centre Bionest to take on the Cataractes. With only a handful of games left in the regular season and home ice advantage at play, the two teams were in for a tough fight. Injuries to Trevor Parkes and Guillaume Asselin did not do much to stand in the way of the Juniors' performance this Saturday afternoon, as they pulled out an impressive 6-1 win.
The visiting Juniors got off to a quick start, grabbing the lead only 3:18 into the game as captain Nicolas Chouinard scored shorthanded off a fumble by Shawinigan goaltender Marc-Antoine Gélinas. Louis-Marc Aubry doubled up on this advantage on the power play minutes later, and Eliezer Sherbatov's 10th goal of the year secured Montreal a 3-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.
The Cataractes' constant trips to the penalty box allowed the Juniors to continue their offensive domination in the second frame. Rookies Xavier Ouellet and Hugo Desharnais-Roux each put their second tallies of the season on the board, as the Junior coasted to a 21-5 shot advantage in those 20 minutes alone.
The third period saw a marked drop in the action until Sherbatov scored his second of the game at just about the midway mark. Shawinigan's Maximilien Le Sieur broke the shutout moments later, but he would prove to be the Cataractes' only scorer. Both teams looked to finish the game as the Juniors' bench seemed to get shorter and shorter with many players leaving due to injury.
Jean-François Bérubé had a relatively easy night, making 20 stops against the Cataractes. Marc-Antoine Gélinas and Gabriel Girard shared goaltending duties on the other end, combining for 37 saves.
The win marked the Juniors' 29th of the season, bringing their record to 29-26-2-4. Montreal now heads to Drummondville to conclude their roadtrip tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. against the defending President's Cup champions before returning to Verdun Auditorium to host Gatineau on Thursday, March 4th at 7:35 p.m.
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