Nov 15 Strong Team Effort Earns Montreal Juniors a Solid 3-2 Victory Over Moncton Wildcats

The Montreal Juniors were looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss last night that saw them take a 2-1 lead over Gatineau up to the 16 minute mark of the 3rd, only to end up losing in regulation time after 2 quick goals by Gatineau, leaving the juniors to ponder a 3-2 loss on their way back home.

The issue at hand was that the team they were meeting was the Moncton Wildcats, a team that until last night, had never suffered a regulation time loss going 18-1-2 in their last 21 games. This would not deter the juniors who understood the importance of a strong showing at home and knew it was their last home game until they had a 4 day stretch of rest ahead of them.

 The Juniors would get off to a fine start, leading in shots, face-offs won and hits. As per the law of averages, when this is accomplished, the goals will follow. And follow they did.

Although they went 0 for 4 on the power-play heading into the late stages of the 2nd period, they would get themselves on the board at the tail end of one of those man-advantage opportunities. At the 15:00 mark, Pier-Antoine Dion got his seventh of the season off a nifty pass from Guillaume Asselin from along the boards. The goal was barely in the process of being announced when Alex Wall and Matthew Brenton came streaking back into the Moncton zone with Wall one-timing his shot past Louis Boileau-Domingue, 24 seconds later. 

Asselin would give Montreal a 3rd goal to start the third period and what an important goal it was as his low, precise shot gave Montreal a cushion that they would need as moments later, on the power-play, Moncton would spring to life as Pierre-Marc Lessard would end Jake Allen's shutout bid at the 7:11 mark. The contest would be made complete when team captain Matt Fillier, who had played a steady, solid, yet quiet game, keeping the opposing team honest, got the better of Paul Dimitruk, when invited to dance. 

Moncton would really pour it on in the dying minutes of the game not only coming to within 1 with 1:16 left on a rebound pouncing Scott Brannon marker, but they pulled Boileau-Domingue and had most of the third period's 14 shots during that time span until time just ran out for Moncton who were unbeaten in regulation time until last night, and now have 2 straight losses in as many games. Montreal, who had managed to score a total of 3 goals in their last three games, potted 3 tonight to beat one of the top tier teams in the "Q".

A splendid team effort with all players contributing. The game's 3 stars, Matt Fillier who again brought his lunch bucket to the rink, Alex Wall who was strong defensively and also tallied the eventual game winning goal and Guillaume Asselin who tallied a goal and an assist clearly was a reflection that this was a team effort. Once the Juniors had that 2 goal lead, their passes were crisper, their confidence level was through the roof and it was a pleasure to watch the potential of what this team can become when firing on all cylinders.

With this win, yet again, the Juniors are a game above .500. Is this the beginning of a potential game winning streak as this must surely be a confidence booster? We will find out when another formidable opponent comes into town on Friday, November 21st as Patrick Roy, on the eve of his jersey retirement with the Montreal Canadiens, is in town with his Ramparts and might have plans to rain on the Juniors' parade.  

Pic by Amanda Stein

Tags: Alex Wall \ Guillaume Asselin \ hockey \ LJMHQ \ Matt Fillier \ Moncton Wildcats \ Montreal juniors \ QJMHL