The contest seemed evenly matched in the early goings, with both teams getting decent scoring chances in the first period. The Castors broke the ice with 12:30 remaining in the first period when Cayden Martin scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Alderic Denis and Xavier Brunet. The visiting team seemed to be unable to stay out of the penalty box early on, but were very effective in killing the penalties, while the Cougars were unable to retain possession of the puck in the Castors’ defensive zone for very long.
The second period picked up where the first left off, with both teams playing intense hockey and generating good scoring chances. One of the better chances came five minutes into the period from a point shot taken by Denis, which Cougars’ goaltender Frederick Durocher-Bourdon caught with his glove. The Vankleek Hill goalie’s efforts seemed to inspire his teammates, as the Cougars tied the game with 13:56 remaining in the second period when Nathan Sauvé dished the puck to Joshua Renaud, who then made a precise pass to a wide open Julien Bercier who scored his team’s first goal with 13:56 remaining in the second period. The home teams’ fans were still celebrating when, a mere 15 seconds later, the Castors rushed back into the Cougars’ zone and Nicholas Gaumond scored his first goal of the game, assisted by Nikolas Guindon and Caleb Smith. Continuing the seesaw trend that would go on until the end of the game, Brenden Easterbrook then scored unassisted for Vankleek Hill with 10:12 remaining in the second period. With both teams shooting the lights out, Gaumond scored his second goal of the night unassisted a minute later, beating Durocher-Bourdon between the legs. Before the end of the period, Justin Chaumont managed to even the score for the third time of the game after getting back to back scoring chances, burying his second shot with 4:06 left in the second period.
The third period got off to a roaring start as Chaumont hit the left post on a solid shot with merely 43 seconds played. The seesaw battle continued into the evening as Gaumond scored his third goal, deflecting Smith’s shot in front of the Cougars’ net. Vankleek Hill then evened the score for the fourth time in the game when Simon Levac beat Corey Camirand with a glove-side shot on a breakaway. The battle of wills continued until the end of the game, when Alderic Denis finally put the game away, scoring the go-ahead goal with 43 seconds remaining at the end of the game. The Cougars then pulled their goalie and got a couple of good scoring chances amid the chaos in the Castors’ defensive zone, but the sheer amount of bodies in front of the net prevented Vankleek Hill from tying the game again and confirmed the Castors’ fifth win of the season, leaving them undefeated thus far.
