Two Maritimes Division teams, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Charlottetown Islanders, went head-to-head for a pair of games over the weekend. Both have underperformed this season, hovering around the middle of the standings despite veteran lineups that looked ready to take a step forward this season and contend for the President Cup.
Cape Breton’s top line of Evgeny Svechnikov, Maxim Lazarev and Pierre-Luc Dubois made a case for top line in the “Q” after this weekend’s performance. Dubois squared off against the Russian duo of Lazarev and Svechnikov earlier in the week in the Canada Russia Series. The Russian duo took turns scoring hat-tricks: Lazarev Friday night in a 6-3 win and Svechnikov Saturday in a 4-2 win.
Dubois finished the weekend with a goal and seven assists and was named the league’s second star. Julien Gauthier may be the best draft prospect in the Q, but the Cape Breton playmaker isn’t far behind.
Pierre-Luc Dubois sure enjoyed playing Charlottetown this weekend, recorded 8 pts in 2 games. Now with 38 pts in 27 games #2016NHLDraft
— Jérôme Bérubé (@Jerome_Berube) November 22, 2015
Here’s more news from around the Q this weekend:
Keven Bouchard stellar
Wins have been a rarity for the last place Baie-Comeau Drakkar this season. Goalie Keven Bouchard picked up two of them, including stealing a game from the Halifax Mooseheads Saturday night when he turned away 41 shots in a 4-0 shutout. In all, Bouchard stopped 64 of 66 shots over the weekend.
Final score: Baie-Comeau 4 Halifax 0. Sensational 41-save shutout for Drakkar goalie Keven Bouchard.
— Willy Palov (@WillyPalov) November 21, 2015
The past few seasons have been interesting for Bouchard. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers 183rd overall in 2014 a few weeks after the Foreurs were the QMJHL representatives at the Memorial Cup. However, Bouchard was relegated to a backup role when Antonie Bibeau stole the show in the post-season. Last season, Bouchard once again found himself on the bench in Val-d’Or as rookie Etienne Montpetit seized the starting role. This spring, he was traded to Baie-Comeau, which is in a rebuild after a handful of dominating seasons. The Drakkar may be destined to finish out of the playoffs, but Bouchard has the potential to steal a couple wins as he did this weekend.
Missing Booth
Quebec Remparts goalie Callum Booth remains sidelined after surgery for appendicitis earlier in November. It’s been a rough go in net with the team allowing 35 goals in eight games (4.38 per contest) with the duo of Julian Galloway and Brady Labrecque in net. On Friday against the first place Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Labrecque was yanked after allowing four goals. Galloway stopped all 23 shots he faced in relief and Quebec scored four unanswered goals in a 5-4 comeback win. It’s the third time in eight games they’ve made mid-game goaltending change—two of them turned into wins.
Defenceman Raphaël Maheux went down with a knee injury in a 5-1 loss to Val-d’Or on Sunday. He’s been spotted on crutches and there’s no timetable on his return. Maheaux has a goal and 14 assists on the season.
Streaks continue
Both Francis Perron and Conor Garland extended their point streaks. The two have at least a point in every game they’ve played this season. Rouyn-Noranda’s Perron picked up four assists to boost his total to 44 points in 22 games. Moncton’s Garland also had four assists, extending his streak to 47 points in 21 games.