Phoenix comeback to beat Olympiques in OT

Grégoire nets GWG after Birds erase 3-goal deficit in 3rd period

After 40 minutes, the Birds found themselves down by a score of 4-1 on the road in Gatineau and the Olympiques seemed to be in good position to avenge their recent 6-0 shutout loss to Sherbrooke. However, there was simply no quit in the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Wednesday night.

In the final 20 minutes of regulation Sherbrooke netted three goals on Mathieu Bellemare to draw the game even at 4-4 and force overtime. In the extra frame, Phoenix assistant captain Thomas Grégoire deked out Bellemare and ended the game with his second goal of the night.

The first part of the game saw both teams trade chances until Gatineau finally got the game’s first goal with a score from Alexandre Landreville at 16:52.

After the first intermission, Grégoire tied the game up fast at 1-1 when Marek Zachar found the defenceman in the slot for a one-timer at 1:29.

However, the rest of the middle period belonged to the Silver and Black. After Sherbrooke’s first goal, Gatineau scored three unanswered special teams goals to take a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.

The Olympiques’ goals came from Mitchell Balmas and Jeffrey Durocher on the power play at 4:55 and 6:22. Late in the period, Giordano Finoro scored short handed to give Gatineau their three-goal lead.

Less than a minute into the third period, Hugo Roy tipped the puck past Bellemare off a Grégoire point shot, cutting the Olympiques lead in half with a powerplay goal.

With the man advantage again, Zachar picked the corner on the Gatineau netminder to make it a one-goal game.

Finally, with 90 seconds remaining in the third period Sherbrooke tied the game. After a Gatineau defenceman coughed up the puck on his own blueline, Nicolas Poulin walked in for a breakaway goal, tying the game 4-4, and setting the stage for Grégoire’s overtime game winner.

The overtime heroics from Grégoire gave Sherbrooke their third straight win. It was Phoenix goalie Brendan Cregan’s third consecutive start and victory. The Halifax native stopped 23-of-27 shots, while his opponent Bellemare was overwhelmed in the game managing saves on 45-of-50 Phoenix shots. Sherbrooke was 2for-6 on the power play, giving up one goal short handed, while Gatineau was 2for-4.

Sherbrooke will be without forward Marek Zachar following the first week of December and possibly longer. Per Jérôme Gaudreau of la Tribune, the Czech Republic forward has earned an invite to the selection camp for his country’s U20 national team ahead of the World Junior Championships in Buffalo, New York. Should Zachar earn a spot with team Czech Republic he will be absent from the Phoenix lineup until the new year. The 19-year-old forward has scored 22 points (12G, 10A) in as many games so far this season.

Next up for the Birds is a two-game home stand. The games will be against the Val-d’or Foreurs, tomorrow afternoon, and the Rouyn-noranda Huskies on Sunday.