Oct 30 Juniors Start Road Swing Off Right

After losing their last 5 games, four of which were against the leagues division leaders, there was no way the Montreal Juniors were going to want to lose another one, especially against the league’s worst team.

Pascal Vincent not only had to get his team back on the right track, but also had to get them out of a lethargic state after a 14 hour bus ride that took them from Montreal to Halifax.

Safe to say, it was mission accomplished on both. The Juniors dominated the game, went 2 for 7 on the power-play and outscored the Mooseheads 6-2 in an all round feel good game for the Juniors.

The improvement in the power-play department could not come sooner as the Juniors, although showing signs of improvement, are still hovering amongst the lowest in the QMJHL standings at just over 16%.

The Juniors continue their Maritime roadswing with their next stop in P.E.I Saturday night, where the Rocket will be looking to return the favour as Montreal defeated them 6-3 the last time they met.

Pleease read on for the official Juniors game recap.

Montreal, October 29^th, 2009 – The Montreal Juniors began their three-game road swing and made their first stop in Halifax to face Mooseheads tonight.   It was a close game until the second period when the Juniors scored three unanswered goals.  They dominated the rest of the way and outshot the opponent 42 to 24 in the game.   The Juniors defeated the Mooseheads 6 to 2.   Jeremy Gouchie, Pier-Antoine Dion, Nicolas Chouinard, Alex Wall, Matthew Brenton, and David Stich scored for the Juniors.  Tomas Knotek scored the two Halifax goals.

Just 24 seconds into the first period, the Juniors opened up the scoring when forward Jeremy Gouchie put the puck past Mooseheads goaltender Mathieu Corbeil-Theriault for his fifth of the season.  Matthew Brenton earned the assist.  That was the only goal of the period as the Juniors outshot the Mooseheads 13 to 7.

Montreal dominated the second period.  The Juniors erupted for three straight goals in the second.  Pier-Antoine Dion, Nicolas Chouinard, and Alex Wall all scored for the Juniors.  Mooseheads finally answered back when Tomas Knotek scored his ninth of the season.  The Juniors outshot the Mooseheads 22 to 10.  The score heading to the last period was Montreal 4 to Halifax 1.

Moosehead forward Tomas Knotek scored again 1:58 in the third period.  However, Brenton extended the Juniors lead as he scored his first of the season on the penalty shot at 13:53.  Juniors defenseman David Stich added his second of the season from Alex Wall at 14:46.    That was the final goal of the night as the Juniors defeated the Mooseheads 6 to 2.

Montreal goalie and Los Angeles King’s prospect Jean-Francois Berube stopped 22 shots to seal the victory.  Halifax goaltender Mathieu Corbeil-Theriault allowed 4 goals on 28 shots and took the loss.  He was relieved by Joel Grondin, who made 13 saves.  The Juniors were 2 for 7 on the power play while the Mooseheads went 0 for 4.  The Mooseheads are now 1-16-0-1 while the Montreal Juniors improve to 8-8-0-1.

The Montreal Juniors will make their next stop in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to face the Rocket on October 31^st.  Then, they will play the Moncton Wildcats on November 1^st.  The next home game will be on November 4^th as they host the Lewiston MAINEiacs at 7:35PM.

Tags: Alex Wall \ David Stich \ game recap \ Halifax Mooseheads \ hockey \ Jérémy Gouchie \ LHJMQ \ Matthew Brenton \ Montreal juniors \ Nicolas Chouinard \ Pascal Vincent \ Pier-Antoine Dion \ QMJHL \ score