While the previous day's duel between the Remparts de Québec and the Océanic de Rimouski was dominated by the Bas-Saint-Laurent team, Sunday's game at the Videotron Center was much closer. Ultimately it was Rimouski who won 4-3 in overtime.
The outcome of this New Year's Eve duel was sealed by Charle Truchon, who won the Memorial Cup with the Red Devils last June. “It’s a good end to the year! “It's fun to be able to win against Quebec after being pegged back at the end of the third period,” said the main prospect, for whom the clash marked his fifth meeting with his former team.
If the Océanic “came back at the end of the third period,” as he said, it was because Quebec native Julien Béland had broken a 2-2 tie at the start of the period, but Remparts captain Kassim Gaudet forced him to do so had overtime with just 53 seconds left to play. It was the 20-year-old striker's second goal of the game.
PROVIDED BY JONATHAN ROY/REMPARTS DE QUÉBEC
Good performance
“Before yesterday's performance, we wanted to come back with a good game, and we managed that through three periods. “It's not the result we expected, but I think we can be proud of our performance,” he summarized after the meeting.
His boss, coach Éric Veilleux, agreed. “I didn’t have to put much emphasis on the message. The players knew it. We have a good field of participants and I am happy with our result. “We played a good game, even if the penalty shootout slowed the momentum a bit,” he said.
Trouble on the power play for Rimouski
Although these penalties may have slowed the Red Devils down, the Oceanic fortunately didn't manage to take advantage of them too often during the encounter. Joël Perreault's men actually scored on only one of their seven attempts in such a situation, and that was in overtime.
“Our power play struggled all night. After the second third we said to ourselves that we could still have a chance. “It’s nice that we stayed positive and that it was Charle Truchon who scored,” Perreault said.
A perfect first weekend for Lacelle
This second win in as many days for the Océanic against the Remparts was also the second win in as many games on the Cecchini circuit for the young 16-year-old rookie goalkeeper William Lacelle.
PROVIDED BY JONATHAN ROY/REMPARTS DE QUÉBEC
In the absence of Quentin Miller, who was unable to compete against his former teammates due to a virus, Lacelle made 31 saves. “It was a new experience for me and I loved it! I am very happy! It couldn't be better, two wins, the team played well, that's all you could ask for as a young goalkeeper!” he summed up.
Fast
- Charles-Olivier Villeneuve was the other goalscorer for Quebec. Dominic Pilote and Jacob Mathieu also thwarted Rimouski's plans.
- Spencer Gill was suspended for one game the day before for a high bat and did not take part in the game.
- 13,745 spectators attended the game.