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QMJHL Week in Review

April 18, 2011 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


Lewiston, ME (QMJHL) - For the second time in their eight-year history, the Lewiston MAINEiacs have advanced to the semi-final round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Playoffs. The MAINEiacs advanced after defeating the Montreal Junior 6-3 on Sunday night, winning the best-of-seven series four games to two.

Lewiston had a chance to close out Montreal in game five on Friday night, but fell 5-4 in double overtime on Dylan Anderson's goal 1:37 in. Olivier Dame-Malka lit the lamp twice in the defeat, while Kirill Kabanov chipped in three points, and Michael Chaput recorded four points.

With that in mind, the MAINEiacs came home on Sunday, wanting to take care of business in front of their home fans at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. The scoring started early, as Jess Tanguy returned to the lineup with a bang, finding the twine 2:34 into the contest. After Louis Leblanc knotted the score at one, Pierre-Olivier Morin put Lewiston back on top, finishing off a feed by Kirill Kabanov. Montreal's Nicolas Chouinard and Lewiston's Stefan Fournier exchanged markers in the second, as the home team maintained a one-goal lead into the third period. In the final stanza, the MAINEiacs busted the score open on goals by Morin and Fournier. Chouinard cut the lead to two with a little more than two minutes left to play, but Michael Chaput put the icing on the cake, sending Lewiston to the 6-3 victory. Nicholas Champion earned his eighth win of the playoffs, defeating Jean-Francois Berube.

Despite having his play questioned throughout the series, Nicholas Champion came up big for the MAINEiacs, going 4-2, with a 2.79 goals against average, and a .917 save percentage. In Lewiston's four wins, Champion combined to stop 127 of the 134 shots he faced, for a 1.75 goals against average, and a .948 save percentage.

Offensively, a few of Lewiston's players had series for the ages, as well as series for the record books. In game two, Olivier Dame-Malka became the second MAINEiac (Picard) to score four goals in a single playoff game, while also becoming the fourth MAINEiac (Picard, Bourret, Perron) to score five points in a single playoff game. Dame-Malka went on to score seven goals in the series (tying Picard for the most in one series), with five of the tallies coming on the man advantage.

After being held off of the scoresheet in his first three games against Moncton, Kirill Kabanov has picked up speed in a big way, scoring at least one point in each of his last eight contests. Kabanov finished the second round series with 12 points in the six games, joining Michael Chaput for the series lead. With their 12 points, Kabanov and Chaput both set the franchise record for the most points in a single series, while Kabanov set the franchise record for the most assists (nine) in a single series.

For the second straight round, special teams were also key in leading Lewiston to victory. The MAINEiacs' power play was dominant in the series, scoring in five of the six games, going 11-for-37 (29.7%) in the process. Lewiston's penalty kill was also extremely strong, holding Montreal to just four power play goals on 27 attempts (14.8%). During the first two rounds of the playoffs, the MAINEiacs have gone 48-for-55 (87.3%) when playing shorthanded.

The final key to Lewiston's second round victory over the Junior was their play during the third period. The MAINEiacs were 3-0 in the series when the game entered the third period with the score tied. Lewiston ended up outscoring Montreal 14-5 during the final period of regulation.

With their second round victory, the MAINEiacs have advanced to round three, where they will meet up with the Saint John Sea Dogs. The first two games of the series will take place in Saint John on Friday and Saturday, before the teams travel to Lewiston for games three and four on Tuesday (26th) and Wednesday (27th).

Other Series in the QMJHL

#1 Saint John Sea Dogs (4) vs. #11 Victoriaville Tigres (1)

The Saint John Sea Dogs received a minor scare when they fell to the Victoriaville Tigres 3-2 in game two at Harbour Station. However, that scare ended up being a small blip on the radar screen in the series, as Saint John rebounded to win all three games against the Tigres at Colisee Desjardins. The Sea Dogs' clinching win came in game five, despite falling behind 2-0 in the first period. Saint John quickly tied the score in the second, and then Zack Phillips netted the winning goal with 7:06 remaining in the third period, lifting his squad to victory. David Honzik finished a solid postseason run with 42 saves for Victoriaville, but was unable to top Jacob DeSerres, who earned his seventh win.

#3 Quebec Remparts (3) vs. #7 Shawinigan Cataractes (3)

One series in the QMJHL has yet to be decided, as the Quebec Remparts and Shawinigan Cataractes will play game seven at Colisee Pepsi on Tuesday night at 7:00. The Cataractes lost the first two games of the series, as well as three of the first four games, but have since come back to win the last two, forcing the decisive battle. In game five, Peter Sakaris kept the series alive, scoring at 12:43 of overtime to give Shawinigan a 4-3 win at Quebec. Then, in game six, the Cataractes scored four straight goals, holding off the Remparts 4-2.

#4 Drummondville Voltigeurs (2) vs. #5 Gatineau Olympiques (4)

The Gatineau Olympiques got off to a slow start in their series, losing the first two games against the Drummondville Voltigeurs. However, after that, it was all Gatineau, as the Olympiques won each of the last four contests. After sweeping games three and four at home, the Olympiques traveled to Drummondville, where they used a three-goal second period to shock the Voltigeurs 5-1 in game five. Then, in game six, Gatineau had another offensive explosion, scoring five times in the third period to eliminate Drummondville 6-3. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had 12 points in the series for the Olympiques, while Maxime Clermont won all four games between the pipes.



Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from April 18, 2011


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