The winning streak is still alive!

GATINEAU – It was a full house this afternoon at the Slush Puppie Centre as the Sherbrooke Phoenix visited the Outaouais. Only one point separates the two teams at the top of the QMJHL’s Western Conference standings. Both teams had an impressive winning streak: 17 consecutive wins for the Olympiques and 13 for Sherbrooke. One of those streaks would come to an end tonight and the winning team would take over first place in the division with few games left in the regular season.

Four consecutive goals

Midway through the second period, Zach Dean made a spectacular pass to Antonin Verreault who cut in front of the net, skated around the goalie and put the puck in the back of the net to make it 1-1. A few minutes later, Alexis Gendron entered the offensive zone and faced three Phoenix players. Gendron sent a perfect cross-ice pass through traffic to Olivier Nadeau who fired a shot past the Sherbrooke goalie. The Captain’s 20th of the season gave his team their first lead of the game.

After a good second period, Louis Robitaille’s men wasted no time in winning. Just 40 seconds into the 3rd period, Zach Dean entered the offensive zone and skated around the opposing defense to get in front of the goalie. Dean completed the scoring with a spectacular move that completely foiled Adam to double the lead.

20 seconds after Dean’s goal, Alexis Gendron was hit with a high stick, which sent the Gatineau team on a power play. Tristan Luneau took advantage of the situation as he settled in and fired a powerful wrist shot into the top of the net. Sam Savoie closed the books with an empty net for a final score of 5-2 Gatineau.

In a post-game interview, head coach Louis Robitaille thanked the fans who once again sold out the CSP: “The support we’ve had since the beginning of the season is incredible. We need the fans and a big part of the success is because of them.”

The winning streak continues!

With tonight’s win, Gatineau earns its 18th consecutive win and takes over first place in the QMJHL’s Western Conference and leads the Phoenix by one point in the standings with 6 games left in the regular season. The action will resume at the CSP on Wednesday March 15th when the Drummondville Voltigeurs visit at 7pm.