BAIE-COMEAU, Que. — Defenceman Christopher Merisier-Ortiz had two goals, including the winner, Friday as the host Baie-Comeau Drakkar defeated the Charlottetown Islanders 4-1 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) action.
Charles-Antoine Giguere and Nathan Legare also scored in the victory as the home side scored four unanswered goals.
Charlottetown’s Thomas Casey scored his 13th goal of the season 7:47 into game with Will Trudeau and Kevin Gursoy drawing the assists. It set a new career high for Casey who had 12 goals in 54 games last season – his second in the league.
Dynamic defenceman Lukas Cormier made his return from a foot injury that has sidelined him since Oct. 19. He had three shots and one was deemed dangerous by league officials.
The lead held up until 7:39 into the second when Giguere tied it and Merisier-Ortiz put them ahead five minutes later. The Drakkar added a pair of third-period goals.
Bulgarian-born goalie Ventislav Shingarov stopped 24 shots for the win while Matthew Welsh was peppered with 37 shots in the loss. Shingarov was picked in the sixth round of the 2019 QMJHL draft.
Baie-Comeau went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all five of the Islanders chances with the man advantage.
The Drakkar improved to 13-13-4-1 while the Isles are 16-11-4-0 and continue their three-game Quebec road trip today in Chicoutimi at 5 p.m. Atlantic against the Eastern Conference-leading Sagueneens (21-5-3-0). The road trip ends in Victoriaville Sunday against the Tigres (9-16-2-3).
