Arriving with the Cataractes no later than last Friday, Nova Scotia netminder Owen Bresson was entitled to his baptism of fire in the Maritimes Quebec Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during this game. He finished the game with a performance of 28 saves on 31 shots.
Quickly put to the test by the Islanders, Bresson gave in twice in the first 12 minutes of play to shots from Zachary Plamondon and Mathys Valente. The new Cats goalkeeper, however, closed the door in a good way towards the end of the first third, showing that he was calmly settling in.
At the very start of the second period, Trifluvien Félix Lacerte had fun by scoring his 13th goal of the campaign. Subsequently, in the third period, the Islanders in turn scored at the start of the period to regain a two-goal priority. Not giving up, head coach Daniel Renaud’s men got back to within one goal thanks to striker Vince Elie’s 11th of the season.
At the end of the duel, the Cataractes removed Bresson in favor of a sixth skater with 90 seconds left in the game. Despite their repeated attempts, they were not able to add their third offensive success of the game to push it into overtime.
Author of two assists in this duel, Russian Matvei Grifin has 14 points in nine games since the start of November. After a slightly more timid start where he had to find his bearings, the European is establishing himself among the best attackers on the circuit.
The Mauricie representatives were still without defenders Isaac Ménard, Louis-Félix Gagnon, Mathieu Plante and Noah McKinnon, goalkeeper Mathys Fernandez as well as attacker Natan Éthier.
The Cataractes will return to action Thursday evening in Halifax against the Halifax Mooseheads. Then, to finish their trip, they will go to Cape Breton to face the Eagles. It will be interesting to see if Bresson will be used again, he who is a native of Dominion, a municipality located 22 minutes from the Eagles’ home.
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