Like last night, a Quebec goalie stood on his head, as Marco Cousineau(Anaheim, 3rd round, 08) made several terrific saves for the Voltigeurs. Unlike Rimouski pipeman Maxime Gougeon last night, Cousineau received some offensive support from his mates.
However it was Windsor that opened the scoring after a scoreless first and almost second period. Adam Henrique (New Jersey, 3rd round, 08) was lurking near the net and poked in puck with .02 seconds to play in the middle frame. They reviewed it, but it was clearly a good goal. It was really cool to listen in on TV to the video replay conversation. Nice work by Sportsnet for working this into the broadcast.
In the 3rd, things really picked up. Drummondville got on the board just as a power play was expiring. Dmitry Kulikov (09 draft) made a nice pass to Marc Olivier Vachon (08 draft)who slid a cross crease feed to Gabriel Dumont (08 draft) who tucked it past Andrew Engelage (07 draft).
Windsor regained it's lead when Henrique tipped home his second of the game, but with under 6 minutes to go, Phillipe Lefebvre (09 draft) beat Engelage with a softy from just inside the blueline. It looked like he just missed it with his glove.
That goal aside both goalies were great through 60 minutes, but someone has to give up the game winner, and that was Engelage, although you could hardly fault him on the winner.
Maxime Frennete (09 draft) picked up a loose puck and sent a nice back hand into a gaping cage to seal the comeback win for Drummondville. Frennete is a nice story. He only played today because the V's top forward Chris DiDomenico (Toronto, 6th round, 2007) is out with a broken leg. He started the game as the extra forward but played his way onto the ice in overtime and it paid off for Drummondville.
A few players impressed me in this game. Obviously both goalies were good, but I really enjoyed watching Dmitry Kulikov play. He's smooth, smart and does a great job quarterbacking the power play. I said Tuesday on TPS that I think if the Oilers are going to draft a D-man they should take Kulikov at 10. If he keeps playing like this, he might not be there when they are picking. Taylor Hall was very good for Windsor as well, always seemed to be dangerous on the ice but was snake bitten with his 7 shots on goal.
Next up is Rimouski Vs. Windsor tomorrow where I expect the Spitfires to bounce back.
2 comments:
Considering they were suppose to be the powerhouse at the tournament, I sure wasn't very impressed with Windsor. Although, I still believe we will see a Kelowna-Windsor final.
That's my prediction for the finals too.
Have to give credit to the QMJHL champs though, they can skate. There is a reason they were the highest scoring team in the Q this year too, but with the injuries they have i wonder if they have enough in the tank.
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