The Océanic shuts out the Eagles

DAY

Gotkeeper Patrik Hamrla blocked 30 Cape Breton Eagles shots for his fourth shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Friday in Cape Breton.

Alexandre Blais stood out in the visitors' victory with three assists. 

Playing in front of parents and friends, Cory MacGillivray and Quinn Kennedy hit the target for the winners. Julien Béland and Lyam Jacques also found the back of the net during the game.

  A great victory 

“It's a great win. All lines contributed and Hamrla was super solid in net. Since we transferred Blais to the center, he has been playing very well. He collects the pucks. His trio with Maxim Coursol and Lyam Jacques did some great things. MacGillivray hadn't played for a long time. He's training hard and he played a good game,” analyzed Océanic head coach Serge Beausoleil.

The first period went at a hellish pace . Both teams got some good scoring chances.

It was finally the Océanic who broke the ice with less than 10 seconds to go in the initial engagement on a fine run by Alexandre Blais who drew the opposing defender towards him before passing the disc to Lyam Jacques who scored his seventh goal of the season.

Three goals for the Océanic in the second

The Océanic struck with lightning speed , at the start of the second, when Julien Béland seized the return of Luka Verreault at the mouth of the net to double the visitors' lead.

In the middle of the period, Cory MacGillivray completed a good push in the opposing zone by beating Nicolas Ruccia with a backhand from the enclave.

Young Blais and Maxim Coursol had started the sequence. Blais added a third assist on Quinn Kennedy's goal which brought the score to 4 0 in favor of the Océanic. Hamrla blocked 17 shots in the second.

The Océanic limited the opponent's scoring chances in the third period to secure the victory and the shutout.

Briefly

As expected, Jan Sprynar was back in action. Nathan Lévesque was cut to make way for him.

Jacob Mathieu and Maël St-Denis are still on the sidelines while Mathys Laurent and Spencer Gill have been left out.

19-year-old forward Julien Béland is the student player par excellence in January with the Océanic. He is studying natural sciences at Cégep de Rimouski. 

• The Océanic will visit the mighty Mooseheads on Sunday in Halifax.