Overtime tally lifts Drummondville over Windsor

Press Release

RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Maxime Frenette scored 8:56 into overtime to give the Drummondville Volitgeurs a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Windsor Spitfires in the opening game for both clubs at the MasterCard Memorial Cup on Saturday.

Patrik Prokop's point shot went off a skate to Frenette at the right side for a backhand shot that left Windsor goaltender Andrew Engelage no chance.

Philippe Lefebvre, who assisted on the game-winner, scored with 5:53 left in regulation time to a great roar from the 4,559 fans at the Rimouski Colisee to force overtime.

Adam Henrique scored twice for the Ontario Hockey League champions, while Gabriel Dumont had a goal for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Voltigeurs.

The Spitfires play the Rimouski Oceanic in the second round robin game for both clubs on Sunday.

Goaltenders Marco Cousineau and Engleage ruled as the teams remained scoreless until the final second of the second period when Henrique broke the deadlock on a power play.

Eric Wellwood had the first shot, and Cousineau also stopped the rebound from the slot by Scott Timmins, but Henrique was at the edge of the crease to the poke the puck in. Video replays showed 0.2 of a second left in the period.

The Voltigeurs tied it one second after a man advantage ended 7:59 into the third on a tic-tac-toe play from point man Dmitry Kulikov to Marc-Olivier Vachon in the left circle to Dumont in front for a shot into an open side.

Henrique put Windsor ahead again as Ben Shutron's point shot went in off him at 11:48, but Lefebvre broke in on a rush and fired a wrist shot that Engelage missed to tie at 14:07.

Unlike Kelowna's tournament-opening 4-1 win over the host Rimouski Oceanic on Friday, this was a battle between equals with chances at both ends.

The Spitfires got a scare 8:15 into the game when defenceman Jesse Blacker was hammered into the end boards by Sean Couturier, who got two minutes for boarding. A woozy Blacker fell on his first attempt to stand up, but then made it to the bench and returned in the second frame.

In the second, Engelage got a glove on Gabriel Dumont's blast to what looked like an open side, and then stopped QMJHL scoring leader Yannick Riendeau's shot and rebound on a breakaway.

Wellwood thought he had a goal 11 minutes in, but his backhander fell behind Cousineau and onto the goal-line, where it was gathered in.

The game featured three major prospects for future NHL drafts -- Drummondville defenceman Kulikov, and Windsor defenceman Ryan Ellis, both eligible for the June draft in Montreal, and Spitfires forward Taylor Hall, who will be drafted in 2010.

Notes: The Voltigeurs were missing star forward Chris DiDimenico, who fractured a thigh in the QMJHL playoffs, and sat out Jeff Marcoux and Samson Mahbod. DiDimenico was in a wheelchair at rinkside. . . Windsor did not dress Ron Soucie, Adam Wallace, Ben Dubois, Jesse Woodcroft, Patrick Moran and goalie Steve Gleeson.


(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)