Feb 19 Victoriaville Tigres Maul Montreal Juniors 5-1

Montreal, February 19^th, 2009 – The Montreal Juniors played host to the Victoriaville Tigers in the fourth game of a five game home stand on Friday night. Despite winning their previous game 6-2 over Gatineau, the Juniors failed to make it two-in-a-row as they fell 5-1 at the Verdun Auditorium.

Read on for the official Juniors game re-cap

The Juniors’ penalty kill saw a lot of action early on as they were forced to kill off two straight power plays to start the game. Despite being successful on both attempts, the Tigers still opened up the scoring when a Travis McIsaac shot took an awkward bounce in front of Montreal goalie Jean-Francois Bérubé to squeak under his pads. In the second period, Victoriaville sought to squash any Montreal momentum early on that carried over from the first as both Phillip Danault and Chris Doyle scored before the period was just over three minutes old to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. The two goals chased goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, leading the way for backup Etienne Marcoux, who held the Tigers scoreless for the remainder of the period. Despite many chances, including one power play opportunity, the Juniors were once again held scoreless. Montreal finally cracked the scoreboard in the third period as Guillaume Asselin put home his 18^h of the season just over nine minutes in. The goal tied Asselin’s career high for goals (18) and points (36), a mark he set last year. Despite the spark by Asselin, Victoriaville’s attack proved to be too much as Tomas Kubalik and Phillip Danault would each add one more goal before the game expired, sealing Montreal’s fate.

Juniors’ goalie Jean-Francois Bérubé took credit for the loss, surrendering 3 goals on 7 shots, while backup Etienne Marcoux allowed 2 more on 16 shots in relief. Tigers’ Kevin Poulin made 32 saves to earn the win.

This Sunday at 4:05, the Juniors host the Gatineau Olympiques before leaving on a four game road trip which begins on Tuesday, February 23^rd at the Lewiston MAINEiacs. The Juniors will return home on March 4^th, when Gatineau will once again visit the Verdun Auditorium.

Tags: Guillaume Asselin \ Jean-Francois Berube \ LHJMQ \ Montreal juniors \ QMJHL \ Victoriaville Tigers