Wildcats fall to Remparts
Published Friday October 30th, 2009
Penalties prove costly for Moncton in QMJHL action
It was a sweet homecoming for Quebec Remparts captain Kelsey Tessier.
The Moncton native was named first star after contributing one goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action last night in front of 4,192 fans at the Moncton Coliseum.
The Wildcats got themselves into trouble early in the game by taking bad penalties and they paid a steep price for it. The Remparts were 3-for-4 on the power play in the opening 15 minutes and jumped out to a 3-0 lead, something that sucked the life out of the crowd.
"Part of our game plan was to play as much five-on-five as possible," said Moncton head coach Danny Flynn. "They've got very good skill and an excellent power play. We made some bad decisions and took some penalties that we can't afford to take against that team."
Moncton, 12-6-1-1, is second in the Atlantic Division. The hometown squad held a 42-25 shots edge in this game and worked hard to try to mount a comeback, but in the end it didn't have anywhere near the same execution level as Quebec.
The Wildcats will look to rebound against the Montreal Juniors on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Moncton Coliseum.
Special teams and goaltending was certainly the biggest difference. On the power play, Quebec was 3-for-5 and Moncton was 1-for-6.
Remparts goaltender Peter Delmas turned in a strong performance, particularly in the final two periods when he faced 32 shots. Wildcats goaltender Louis Domingue failed to make the key saves to allow his club a chance to get back into the game and got pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots.
"I thought we were ready to play, but we got hit over the head with those two early penalties and dug a big hole for ourselves," said Flynn. "I thought we showed good resolve and good character after getting down 3-0.
"We pushed hard to try to get back into the game. Louis is a 17-year-old goaltender who's learning on the job. There was a couple of goals tonight he would like to have back, but overall he's been solid this season.
"I just thought their best players were better than our best players tonight and that was the difference. I thought our effort was there for the most part, but we need to play a real smart game against that team next time."
Marc-Olivier Vallerand, with a pair, Danick Paquette and Patrick Cusack rounded out the scoring for Quebec, which is first in the Eastern Division at 12-3-2-1. The Remparts have seven wins in the past eight games.
Kirill Kabanov and Ted Stephens countered for Moncton, which dropped to 6-3-0-0 at home.
Quebec held a 17-10 shots edge in the first period and took a 3-0 lead into the intermission. Moncton was assessed the first two penalties and that turned out to be the game's storyline.
Daniel Pettersson of the Wildcats was sent off for checking from behind at 3:23. Tessier got the Remparts on the scoreboard during that power play.
Devon MacAusland of the Wildcats was handed a five-minute major for checking from behind at 9:45. The Remparts capitalized twice on that power play with goals at 11:58 and 13:54 to jump ahead 3-0.
"Quebec has an offensively skilled team and when you give them power play chances they can make you pay the price," said Wildcats defenceman Mark Barberio. "We have to be more disciplined.
"One of the keys we talked about prior to the game was limiting their chances on the power play because they're so good offensively. I don't think we played disciplined hockey to the best of our ability tonight."
Moncton was awarded the next four power plays after falling behind 3-0, but it failed to take advantage of those opportunities. The effort was there, but the execution wasn't.
The Wildcats controlled the play in the second period with a 19-3 shots edge, but they couldn't make headway on the scoreboard. They continued to trail by three goals after 40 minutes.
The Wildcats cut their deficit to 3-1 on Kabanov's power play goal in the opening minute. They built momentum off that and had some good scoring chances in the ensuing minutes, but couldn't beat Delmas again to make things interesting.
The Remparts scored a killer goal at 8:17 and led 4-1 after 40 minutes. Cusack scored a soft goal on a shot from the slot along the ice.
Moncton held a 13-5 shots edge in the third period and pulled to within 4-2 on a pretty goal by Stephens at 2:35. But Quebec struck back at 3:59 to make it 5-2 and effectively end any comeback hopes.
"There were parts of this game when I thought we were dominating and pressing the play in their zone," said Barberio. "We outshot them 19-3 in the second period, but we only came out of it with a 1-1 tie in that period.
"It is a little frustrating, but you've got to give Quebec credit. They've got lots of offensive talent and when they get a chance they seem to bury it. They did a better job of moving the puck and executing than we did."
Moncton held a 32-8 shots edge in the final two periods.
"It's tough to get down 3-0 against a team like that," said Wildcats centre Randy Cameron. "I think after the opening 15 minutes it was a pretty even game back and forth. We've just got to be more disciplined.
"We were really looking forward to this game and it's unfortunate that we couldn't have had a better game against them. I think we had enough good scoring chances in the final two periods to get back in this game, but their goalie made some key saves."
Quebec improved to 5-1-2-0 on the road.
"We had good jump right off the bat and I thought we played a good game," said Remparts head coach Patrick Roy. "I was happy with our first period. They had some power plays in the second and third periods which gave them some momentum.
"I need to watch the video of this game because I was surprised that the final shots were 42-25 in favour of them. It surprises me that we only had eight shots in the last two periods. I can't wait to watch the video of this game."
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Should read:
"Wildcats goaltender Louis Domingue failed to make the EASY saves to allow his club a chance to get back into the game."
Every time Moncton started to make a comeback he would let in another soft one and kill the momentum. 3 of the 5 goals should have been routine saves.
Domingue did not have a good game, but I'd be hard pressed to say he was the reason we lost or that they were "weak" goals.