QMJHL Series: Alexis Gendron defeats Vecteau, Drummondville joins Drakkar in final

Alexis Gendron scored two crucial goals that allowed the Drummondville Voltigeurs to advance to the final of the QMJHL playoffs on Friday.

Gendron tied the game with 49 seconds left before putting the nail in the coffin for the Victoriaville Tigres in overtime to win 3-2.

“It's the best goal I've ever scored!” Gendron cheered around the victorious net. Maybe it's not the prettiest, but it's the most effective. “I will remember that all my life.”

Drummond will face the regular season champion, Bay-Comeau Drakkar, who easily disposed of the Cape Breton Eagles in five games yesterday.

They would appear in the final for the first time since winning the President's Cup in 2009. They then lost 3-2 to the eventual Memorial Cup champions, the Windsor Spitfires, in the semi-final.

“We faced adversity and needed our best players to score the goal,” said coach Sylvain Favreau, who sent five forwards onto the ice when Mercer returned to the bench in favor of a sixth skater at the end of the third period. .

Alexis Burke took advantage of a poor Voltigurs turnover to open the scoring midway through the first half for Tigres, who before this evening had a 7-0 record when they scored the first goal, a trend that did not continue, however, nor was it extended.

In the second half, Mikael Hochet tied the game with a shot between Nathan Darvue's pads, scoring his fourth goal of the series.

Benjamin Vigneault broke the deadlock midway through the third period for Fecteau, searching for a second winning goal in three days, but Alexis Gendron eventually stole the show. The striker, who has scored eight goals since the start of the qualifiers, blocked Vsevolod Komarov's shot, then blocked Hochet's shot at the start of extra time to end the match after 11 seconds.

Riley Mercer made 30 saves in the win.

In the third half, a goal for the Voltigurs team was disallowed by the referees due to an obstruction gesture from Kacem Godit towards the goalkeeper. The sequence was sent for video review due to an obstructive gesture against the goaltender, but the decision made on the ice was upheld.

Four of the five games were decided by one goal in the Maritimes Quebec Junior Hockey League semifinals.