(Photo Credit: Gatineau Olympiques)
The Gatineau Olympiques scored four times in the third period Thursday night to defeat the Chicoutimi Saguneens 8-2, giving them their 16th consecutive victory.
With the win, the team is just eight wings shy of breaking the record for most consecutive wins in QMJHL history, with the previous mark being set by the 1995-96 Gatineau Olympiques.
In front of a sold-out home crowd at Slush Puppy Arena, the Olympiques brought their best offensive game. The win improves the Olympiques 90 points in the standings, just one behind the Sherbrooke Phoenix for third in the QMJHL.
Charles-Antoine Lavallee had to be sharp early for the Sagueneens, who stopped dangerous scoring chances from Cam MacDonald, Zach Dean, and Samuel Savoie.
Gatineau finally solved Lavallee late in the first, when Olivier Nadeau cleaned up the bounce off the boards to tuck it past Lavallee, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Tristan Luneau wasted no time in the second, scoring his 17th of the season 32 seconds into the second period. Matteo Mann’s clearing attempt went straight to Luneau and his wrist shot evaded Lavallee to extend the lead to 2-0.
Édouard Carrier skated to the hashmarks and ripped it by Emerik Despatie to cut the lead in half for his third tally of the season.
Tristan Luneau responded a minute later, taking the puck all the way around the offensive zone and then dropped it for Samuel Savoie, who netted his 25th of the season. Cam MacDonald added the second assist to bring his point total to 51 on the season.
The Sagueneens pulled within one thanks to Alexis Morin’s 16th of the season, but the Olympiques owned the game from that point onwards.
Nadeau scored his second of the game restore the two goal advantage for Gatineau before the second intermission.
Goals from Vincent Maisoneuve, Antonin Verreault, Cam MacDonald, and Cole Cormier in the third period rounded out the scoring for the Olympiques, capping off an 8-2 victory to extend the winning streak, and to inch a little closer to history.
Charles-Antoine Lavallee was pulled halfway through the third period after Gatineau’s late barrage of goals. Phillipe Cloutier came into the game in relief and made three saves in the process.
Emerik Despatie only had to make 13 saves on the evening to move just one win shy of his career high.
Antonin Verreault earned first star with a goal and two assists. Olivier Nadeau was named the second star after a two-goal performance, while Cam MacDonald earned the third star with a goal and two assists.
The Olympiques will take on the Saguneens at Slush Puppy Arena once again on March 10th looking to extend the winning streak to 17 games.