Oct 04 Juniors Look to improve on 4 game winning streak

The Montreal Juniors are intact and in effect. The recent, and final missing piece of Louis Leblanc has paid instant dividends for a team that is looking to extend their recent 4 game winning streak when they head out to the Maritimes this week.

With a 3-1 win over Chicoutimi on Friday and a convincing 7-4 trouncing of the Victoriaville Tigres on Sunday, the team with usually suspects Leblanc, Philippe Lefebvre, Trevor Parkes and Nicolas Chouinard as well as a supporting cast of David Rose, Jeremy Gouchie, Louis-Marc Aubry and Xavier Ouellet, that could easily move to the forefront on any given night, are giving the impression that they can outscore any team they face.

But while in the process of monopolizing puck possession, Montreal has drastically improved, if only in the short run, an Achilles heel from last season:  

The Juniors have been doing a great job in reducing the total of shots against. By the end of Friday's game, Jean-Francois Bérubé faced  a grand total of16 shots. Sunday, the final shots on goal were Juniors 52, Victoriaville = 20. St Leonard native, Antonio Mastropietro and David Honzik shared the 52 shots pelted at the Victoriaville net.
 
Tampa Bay prospect, defenseman Charles Landry did not play Sunday. He injured his jaw in Saturday’s practice and the team will only know this week if it's fractured.

Read on for the official Juniors game recaps for Friday and Sunday.

Montreal, October 1^st 2010 – The Montreal Juniors hosted the Chicoutimi Sagueneens tonight and held on to a 3-1 victory. The Juniors are now a 4-1-2-0, and the Sagueneens 4-2-0-1.

The first period saw no goals, and Chicoutimi goaltender Christopher Gibson stole the show, stopping 14 shots on net.

During the second period, the Juniors finally got past Gibson at 7:37 with a goal from Louis-Marc Aubry, his first of the season, assisted by right winger Trevor Parkes.

At 13:25 in the third, the second goal of the night was scored by Jean-Christophe Laflamme, his second of the season, followed by another goal only a minute later, courtesy of the captain of the team, Nicolas Chouinard. Only seconds later, at 15:10, Rock Régimbald scored the only goal for the opposing team, assisted by right winger, Guillaume Asselin.

Juniors’ goalie Jean-Francois Bérubé stopped 14 of 15 shots on net, while Chicoutimi goaltender Christopher Gibson stopped 43 of 46 shots.

Up next, the Victoriaville Tigers will visit Montreal on Sunday, October 3^rd at 3:05pm at the Verdun Auditorium.

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Verdun Auditorium, October 3^rd 2010 – The Montreal Juniors faced off against the Victoriaville Tigers Sunday afternoon at the Verdun Auditorium. The Juniors triumphed over the Foreurs with a final score of 7-4, giving them a current record of 5-1-2-0.  

Victoriaville opened the scoring in the first period with a goal by Philippe Maillet, at 4:25, assisted by Pierre-Luc Pelletier. Louis Leblanc followed with the first goal for the Juniors at 8:58, assisted by left winger Philippe Fontaine and right winger David Rose. At 18:23, Brandon Hynes scored the second goal of the day for Victoriaville.

4 minutes into the second, Trevor Parkes scored on the power play, his third of the season, assisted by Louis-Marc Aubry and Philippe Lefebvre. Only two minutes later the captain of the Montreal team, Nicolas Chouinard, scored his second goal of the season. The fourth goal of the afternoon for the Juniors was scored at 8:07, courtesy of defenseman Xavier Ouellet. Alex Micallef scored the fifth goal of the day for the Juniors, assisted by Jean-Christophe Laflamme and Louis Leblanc, bringing the score to 5-2. To finish up the second period, Philippe Fontaine scored at 16:16, assisted by Dylan Anderson and David Rose.

Brandon Hynes of Victoriaville scored the first goal and second goal of the third period, completing his hat trick for the night. With only a minute and a half left in the period, Louis Leblanc scored his second goal of the night, assisted by team captain Nicolas Chouinard and Jonathan Narbonne.

The Juniors led the game in scoring, with a total 52 shots on net, while Victoriaville trailed behind with only 20 shots. Goalies Antonio Mastropietro and David Honzik for Victoriaville allowed 7 shots on 52 while Juniors’ goalie Jean-Francois Bérubé allowed 4 of 20 shots, securing the win for the Montreal team.

The Juniors will be playing again on home ice on October 15^th at 7:05pm and October 17^th at 3:05pm, at the Verdun Auditorium when they face off against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and the Val d’Or Foreurs.