Juniors Leave 2 Points to Lewiston
While the Juniors forwards put in a valiant effort in the final period of the game last night in a 5-4 loss to the Lewiston MAINEiacs, one has to wonder if they didn’t let the issue of sick or sidelined teammates defeat them before they hit the ice.
With arguably a “who’s who” of injured/sick/suspended players such as defensemen David Stich and Xavier Ouellet, forward Eliezer Sherbatov and almost recovered starting goalie Jake Allen on the sidelines, one had to think this affected the Juniors’ psyche from the first puck drop.
Juniors Goalie Jean-Francois Bérubé was replaced by the still under-the-weather Jake Allen to start the 2nd period after he let in 3 goals on only 8 shots in the first, including a horrible, weak wrister from the blue line that beat the young net-minder 5-hole. This appeared to be a back-breaker for the team that was trying to make a game of it despite their lack of cohesiveness for most of the first two frames.
On the positives, young rookie Trevor Parkes not only scored his first goal at home, but potted 2 more as he and line-mates Jeremy Gouchie and Matthew Brenton lit figured on all of Montreal’s 4 goals. The PK was also great, going 8 for 8, however one goal was scored just as a penalty expired in a game that had questionable refereeing which also did not help the Juniors mount any sort of real comeback, playing almost a whole period with a man down.
The Juniors could have won this game if they would have been able to stay out of the box and if they would have come out of the gate like a home team should, not letting the other team dictate the game’s rhythm. Kudos to the MAINEiacs, who got the job done and managed to always score a key goal to keep Montreal at bay and did just enough to take the 2 points.
The Juniors week doesn’t get any easier. They face the Gatineau Olympiques on Friday, the Quebec Remparts, Sunday and will end this four-game home-stand as they host the defending champs, the Drummondville Voltigeurs, on Tuesday, November 10th
Get all the box scores here.
Juniors official game recap:
Montreal, November 4th, 2009 – After going two for two on the roadtrip, the Montreal Juniors were going for their third straight win as they open up a four-game homestand tonight against the Lewiston MAINEiacs. The MAINEiacs dominated the first and second period while the Juniors made this a close game in third as winger Trevor Parkes collected three goals for the hat-trick. In the end, forward Jean-Francois Plante and goalie Adrien Lemay led the way as the Lewiston MAINEiacs escaped with the victory by the score of 5 to 4.
The Juniors did not start off on the right foot. The Lewiston MAINEiacs took the lead at 4:47 in the first when winger Samuel Hanley scored his first of the season as the puck asdeflected in. Devil’s prospect Eric Genilas and center Jean-Francois Plante earned the assists. Lewiston doubled the lead when forward Marco Desveaux five-holed the puck past goaltender Jean-Francois Berube at 11:31. The assisted was credited to winger Sebastien Trudeau. The Juniors answered back when rookie Trevor Parkes scored on a wrap-around for his ninth of the season from center Jeremy Gouchie at 15:40. The MAINEiacs extended the lead to two goals again when center Alexander Beaton one-timed Pierre-Olivier Morin’s cross ice pass past the diving Berube for his sixth of the season at 17:07. Shots favored the MAINEiacs 8 to 4. The score going to the second was Lewiston 3, Montreal 1.
In the second, Jake Allen relieved Jean-Francois Berube in goal for the Juniors. That did not stop the MAINEiacs from scoring. Lewiston added to the lead when Samuel Carrier roofed the puck from the point for his third of the season at 8:52. Jean-Francois Plante scored right on the doorstep for Lewiston at 13:01 when the Juniors made a crucial turnover in their own zone. Montreal finally countered when Trevor Parkes scored his second of the night at 13:37. The physical play from both teams stepped up in the second. Juniors captain Nicolas Chouinard and MAINEiacs Samuel Carrier were involved in the fisticuffs at 1:21. Loic Poudrier and Eric Bonawitz squared off at 14:24. The shots favored the MAINEiacs again 9 to 8. The score going to the third was Lewiston 5, Montreal 2.
The Juniors did not back down as Trevor Parkes opened up the scoring in the third when he knocked in the rebound past MAINEiacs goaltender Adrien Lemay from Matthew Brenton and Alex Wall for his first career hat-trick at 3:56. Juniors were able to capitalize when they pulled the goalie towards the end of the game. Forward Jeremy Gouchie cut the deficit to one when he backhanded the puck past Lemay from Alex Wall at 19:04. That was the last goal of the night as the Lewiston MAINEiacs won a close one by the score of 5 to 4.
Juniors goalie Jean-Francois Berube took the loss as he allowed 3 goals on 8 shots. Jake Allen came in relief and made 12 saves. Lewiston goaltender Adrien Lemay took the victory as he stopped 22 shots. The Lewiston MAINEiacs improve to 10-8-0-0 while the Montreal Juniors are now to 9-9-0-1.
Up next for the Juniors will be the Gatineau Olympiques on Friday, at 7:35PM. The Quebec Remparts, coached by former Hab goaltender Patrick Roy, will be in town Sunday, at 4:05PM. Montreal will end this four-game homestand as they host the defending champs, the Drummondville Voltigeurs, on Tuesday, November 10th at 7:35PM.
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