Team Savard emerged victorious from the opening game of the 2024 QMJHL Cup with a 4-2 triumph over Team Lecavalier on Thursday afternoon at Boisbriand’s Centre d’excellence Sports Rousseau.
In the win, Team Savard forward Charles-Albert Pouliot led his squad with two assists to go with the 51 saves from goaltender Raphaël Courchesne. For Équipe Lecavalier, Dylan Caron and Félix Pronovost were the lone scorers, while Charles Pilon and Josh Demers picked up two assists apiece in the loss.
Right from the initial puck drop, both teams delivered the goods with a lot of physical play. Team Savard forward Anthony Dontigny opened the scoring with a shot from the slot at 13 minutes and 13 seconds after taking a pass from defenseman Liam Boisclair. Team Lecavalier was able to tie the game with 2 minutes and 24 seconds left in the first period, thanks to Félix Pronovost’s first goal of the tournament.
In the first ten minutes of the second frame, goalkeepers Antoine Proulx and Raphaël Courchesne made several key saves that kept their team in the game. Team Savard was awarded a power play with 3 minutes 41 seconds left in the period, allowing Samuel Roy to score his team’s second goal. A few minutes later, Team Savard was again awarded a power play and, this time, it was Samuel Rheault who scored by using his speed to shoot at Proulx, who was unable to completely immobilize the puck. Roy then pounced on his rebound and slid it into the back of the net to make it 3-1.
For Team Lecavalier, a goal by defenseman Dylan Caron early in the third period cut the deficit to 3-2. But later on, after pulling Proulx with 65 seconds left to try and tie the game, Team Lecavalier allowed the final goal of the game when forward Dylan Rozzi scored into an empty net.
Team Savard will be looking for its second consecutive win when it takes on Team Marchand tomorrow at 2:45pm ET. Team Lecavalier will be looking for its first win against Team Dobson, also on Friday, at 5:45pm ET.
