Eagles Edged by Tigres in First Game of Road Trip

October 27, 2022 – Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – Cape Breton Eagles News Release

VICTORIAVILLE- An outstanding penalty kill couldn’t make the difference as the Eagles were defeated 5-3 by the Victoriaville Tigres in the first game of a three game road trip.

It was a back and forth encounter with plenty of scoring in the opening twenty minutes of the contest. Before the four minute mark, Eagles defenseman Xavier Daigle scored the first goal of his QMJHL career with a blast from between the faceoff circles. The goal was countered with a great individual effort from Egor Goriunov, who split the defense and then bured his own rebound by Oliver Satny.

The Tigres took their first lead of the game when Elliot Simard scored the first of his QMJHL career. There was again a counter, as Samuel Johnson tipped a point shot from Owen Arnold to knot the game at two. It looked as though the period would finish that way, but with 15 seconds to play Tommy Cormier raced up the wing and swept around the crease to put the go ahead goal by the Eagles netminder.

The scoring slowed down in the middle stanza but the teams did trade goals. After a strong short handed chance for Victoriaville, the puck went the other way down the ice and Luke Patterson ripped a shot over Gabriel D’Aigle to tie the game.

It was a tie game for 12 minutes in the third period and the Tigres would then have to wait longer to get the lead back- Justin Gendron batted the puck over the goal line, but it was ruled no goal on the ice. A video review deemed it a good goal and the home side led 4-3.

The Eagles had an opportunity to tie the game again late in the frame when Ivan Ivan was taken down but no penalty was called. After the Tigres had raced up the ice, the play came back the other way, sending Ivan in on a breakaway- but he was denied by D’Aigle. That wasn’t the end of the bad news for the Eagles as Patterson went down with an upper body injury in the middle stanza and did not return to the game.

Penalty trouble hurt the Eagles attempt at a comeback early in the third period, but the visitors did kill off back to back minor penalties. However, there was no answer for Tommy Cormier even strength as he finished a one timer off a faceoff win from Maxime Pellerin and gave VIctoriaville the first two goal lead of the game for either team.

Once again the Cape Breton penalty kill was tested as Samuel Johnson was sent off with a minor penalty in the final six minutes. The Eagles killed the penalty off, but couldn’t get any closer on the scoreboard. With just over a minute to go, Satny left the net for an extra attacker but the Eagles couldn’t light the lamp, and the score finished 5-3.

The Eagles continue their road trip in Sherbrooke tomorrow night against the Phoenix. Puck drop is 8 PM Atlantic time. The game is available for purchase online at https://bit.ly/3NemJFF You can also hear all the action beginning with the pre-game show with Patrick McNeil at 7:30 PM on 1270 AM CJCB or online at www.cjcbradio.com

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

1. Tommy Cormier (Victoriaville) 2 goals, 8 shots

2. Justin Gendron (Victoriaville) 1 goal, 5 shots

3. Egor Goriunov (Victoriaville) 1 goal, 4 shots

Scratches For Cape Breton: FJ Buteau (upper body injury), Justin Bergeon (personal), Tomas Lavoie (upper body injury),William Shields (suspension), Preston Pattengale, Gio DiMattia

Scratches For Victoriaville: Nathan Darveau (lower body injury), Alexandre Nadeau (upper body injury), Nikita Prishchepov (lower body injury), Tommy Montreuil

Final Shots On Goal: 32-29 in favour of Victoriaville

Cape Breton Power Play: 1/1

Victoriaville Power Play: 0/5

• Discuss this story on the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League message board…

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.