Despite a sluggish beginning, the P.E.I. Rocket and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar ended well in P.E.I.’s 3-2 win on Friday at the Civic Centre.
Slow start to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is an apt description as the teams combined for eight total shots in the first period — six by Baie-Comeau and two by the Rocket.
Somehow the game was tied 1-1 after the first period.
“Both teams played cautious at first,’’ said Josh Currie, Rocket captain, who went 11-for-23 from the faceoff circle. “The intensity picked up as the game went along.’’
True enough as shots were 14-11 for the Drakkar after the second period and 25-23 for the visitors by the game’s end. And near the conclusion of a well-played third period, Baie-Comeau pulled goalie Philippe Cadorette for a sixth attacker and fired several shots at Rocket netminder Maxime Lagacé, who stood his ground, earned the win and increased his record to 10-26-2-1.
Ben Duffy (1-2), Jimmy Oligny and Victor Provencher lit the lamp behind Philippe Cadorette, who stopped 20-of-23 shots but dropped to 4-3, while Samuel Carrier and Jonathan Lessard countered for Baie-Comeau.
With the win in front of the announced crowd of 1,150 spectators at the CCC, P.E.I. halted a three-game losing streak and won its sixth game in its last 12 QMJHL contests.
P.E.I. improved to 14-30-2-2. Baie-Comeau fell to 24-20-1-3 and 0-2 on its road trip through the Maritimes Division.
The teams each went 1-for-5 on the power play. The score was tied 1-1 at the first intermission. P.E.I. led 2-1 after 40 minutes.
And more importantly for Currie, the Rocket revenged a pair of 6-1 losses to Baie-Comeau this season and improved to 1-2 against the Drakkar in the final contest of the season series.
Those two previous games were marked by P.E.I. tallying 58 penalty minutes and giving the Drakkar 14 power plays.
“We stayed out of the (penalty) box even though we took some penalties we didn’t need,’’ said Currie. “It was more of a collective team effort. Everyone bought in and that’s what we have to do to win games.’’
P.E.I. hosts the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada today Game time is 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
