Screaming Eagles comeback falls short in Chicoutimi
Cape Breton drops Game 4 of the series 5-4
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles pressured late with the net empty, but fell 5-4 to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday at Centre Georges-Vézina in Chicoutimi, Que.
Antoine Marcoux’s goal at 17:49 of the third stood up as the winner for the Saguenéens . The best-ofseven openinground series is now tied 2-2, with Game 5 slated for Friday in Chicoutimi.
“I think we played a good game (Wednesday),” said Cape Breton head coach Marc-André Dumont. “We dominated offensively, we dominated on the shots and scoring chances. What hurt us was playing catch up hockey. When you fall behind like that, you have to catch up and catch up.
“I felt we had a great start to the third period and had momentum, but unfortunately, they scored on their first chance. We still fought and I like the character our team showed.”
A power-play tally by Pierre-Luc Dubois with just over a minute to go brought Cape Bre- ton within a goal, but it was as close as the Screaming Eagles would get to a comeback. Former Eagle Timothé Simard also scored in the third for Chicoutimi.
The home side took a 2-0 lead in the opening period on a pair of goals by Taylor Cooper. Maxim Lazarev replied for Cape Breton with a power-play tally with a minute and a half remaining in the frame. He finished the game with a goal and two assists.
Nicolas Roy regained the Sags’ two-goal advantage in the second period, but Michael Joly and Colin MacSween evened the score heading into the third.
In goal, Julio Billia deflected 41 shots to post the win. Alexandre Bélanger deflected 17 pucks in the loss. Cape Breton has outshot Chicoutimi in three of four games of the series.
Cape Breton finished 3-for-5 on the power play, while Chicoutimi went 2-for-5.
“I think our guys are doing a great job making sure we don’t give too many power plays,” said Dumont. “We gave five, our lowest number in the series up to now. It’s a good thing and we need to keep playing disciplined hockey. It showed (Wednesday) if they don’t have eight or nine power plays, they have a trouble reaching 25 shots. We have to keep going in that direction.”
The series will return to Cape Breton for Game 6 on April 4, a 7 p.m. start at Centre 200. If necessary, Game 7 will be played April 5, another 7 p.m. puck drop in Sydney.
NOTES: Forward Phélix Martineau left the game and didn’t return. There was no update on his injury. Clark Bishop ( lower body) and Declan Smith (upper body) remain day-to-day.