Photo Credit (Denis Morin/Victoriaville Tigres).
Gatineau went into the Colisée Desjardins to take on the Victoriaville Tigres on Wednesday night with a chance to move into first place in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, they ran into a hot goalie in Nathan Darveau and a strong Tigres offence.
Darveau made 26 saves in the victory while Nikita Prishchepov scored the game winner just 53 seconds into the third period.
The Tigres got their offence going quickly with Mathieu St-Onge sliding one through Francesco Lapenna’s five-hole 58 seconds into the game. Maël Lavigne made it 2-0 on his seventh of the season just 2:59 after the opening marker.
Colin Ratt came down the left side shorthanded and ripped his sixth of the season past Darveau to cut the lead in half. Lapenna and Darveau made multiple saves to keep their teams in the game.
Prishchepov scored his tenth of the season early in the third period, banking it off Lapenna and into the net to restore the two goal lead.
Newly-acquired, Cam MacDonald scored his 22nd of the season on a beautiful shot to pull his team within one. Since joining the Olympiques, MacDonald has six goals and nine assists in seven games.
Tommy Cormier scored his 25th of the season for the insurance goal, midway through the third period. Alexandre Nadeau eventually sealed the win with an empty net goal.
Both teams were scoreless on the powerplay with Victoriaville going 0-3 and Gatineau 0-2. The Olympiques outshot the Tigres 28-26.
Francesco Lapenna finished the game with 21 saves on 25 shots faced.
Riley Kidney did not play in the contest, but updates can be expected from the team shortly.
Gatineau continue their four game road trip with stops in Rouyn-Noranda and Val d’Or this Saturday and Sunday as they look to get back into the win column.