Cam Squires scored his eighth and ninth goals of the playoffs, and the Cape Breton Eagles reignited the suspense in their semi-final against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar by winning 2 to 1 on Monday.
The Drakkar, undisputed power of the QMJHL in the regular season and holder of a ten winning streak before this clash, suffered a first failure during the post-season calendar.
Squires’ second goal of the night, scored at 4:29 of the third period, gave the Eagles some breathing room.
Baie-Comeau, however, did not give up – far from it – and Jules Boilard brought the Côte-Nord team closer by hitting the target at 8:15 of the final third.
Goaltender Nicolas Ruccia was then the undisputed star for Cape Breton; he made important saves in the last minute and a half of play, while the Drakkar pressed on.
Ruccia was tested 40 times in this third duel.
The two clubs will return to action on Tuesday (6 p.m. Quebec time) for the presentation of Game 4 at Center 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Squires was a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils last year.
A native of Charlottetown, he leads the Eagles with 19 points since the start of the playoffs, including nine goals.
There were almost seven minutes gone in the first period when the Drakkar got a first shot, after seven shots from the crowd favorites.
Center 200, which was filled to capacity for a third straight game, hosted a third round playoff game for the first time since 2007.
