It may have been Valentine’s Day in Rimouski, but no love was lost between the Océanic and Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday. The Océanic pummelled the Sea Dogs 7-3, led by a pair of goals from Florida Panthers prospect Christopher Clapperton. By the time the game was over, 10 misconducts and four game misconducts were handed out.
Both teams were slapped with $1,000 fines for having a second fight during the same stoppage in play when a line brawl erupted midway through the third period. Towering Océanic defenceman and Philadelphia Flyers first-rounder Sam Morin was kicked out for checking from behind and handed a two-game suspension for the incident.
The low-point came when power forward Bokondji Imama, acquired by Saint John during the trade period, hit an official multiple times. He received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along with a misconduct and game misconduct for physical abuse of officials. The QMJHL has suspended Imama four games for the incident, a light penalty compared to the NHL, where physical abuse of officials automatically comes with a minimum 10-game suspension.
Here’s what you need to know from around the Q:
Maritimes Division
The Moncton Wildcats picked up a three-pack of wins on the road in Quebec, led by Ivan Barbashev and Conor Garland, who both reached personal milestones in the process.
Barbashev, now in his third year with the Cats, reached the 200-point mark with the opening goal of a 3-2 win over Victoriaville. The St. Louis Blues prospect finished the week with four goals and three helpers. Meanwhile, Garland became the first player in the Q to hit 100 points this season when he set up Barbashev’s second goal against Victoriaville. Garland had a goal and two assists in each game he played this week, finishing with nine points in three games. The 5-foot-8, 168-lb. winger, a sixth-round pick by the Wildcats in 2011, has seen his production skyrocket this season after scoring 54 points last year.
An assist by Halifax Mooseheads forward Nikolaj Ehlers against Cape Breton Saturday extended his point streak to 29 games, matching the franchise record set by Jonathan Drouin in 2012-13. The assist came on an empty-net goal, one in which he had a chance to score but instead dished the puck to Samuel Leblanc. Ehlers has 66 points during the streak.
Timo Meier picked up a goal and three assists this past week, extending his point run to 23 games, the longest in franchise history after the Ehlers and Drouin streaks.
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Maxim Lazarez single-handedly dismantled the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday, scoring four goals and adding an assist in a 6-2 win. The 5-foot-10, 170-lb. Russian was selected third overall in the 2013 Euro draft by Cape Breton. In his second season, his production has doubled with 63 points compared to 31 in 2013-14.
Lazarez has also helped fellow Russian Evgeny Svechnikov transition to the North American game. Both players are NHL draft eligible this season, with Svechnikov projected to go as high as the first round while Lazarez may go undrafted.
East Division
The Baie-Comeau Drakkar were hot on the heels of division rivals Rimouski, but took a step back after losing three games last week. They faced a tough string of opponents, squaring off against the first place Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and second place Moncton Wildcats, along with a game against the ice-cold Victoriaville Tigres. The Drakkar held a 5-2 lead with six minutes left in the third period against Moncton, but allowed three even-strength goals then lost in a shootout. The Drakkar followed that up with a 6-1 loss to Victoriaville, a team that has only won two of their last 10 games in regulation.
Right-winger Mathieu Ayotte has been a bright spot for the Tigres, a team that has dipped below the .500 mark over the past few weeks. Ayotte, a second-round pick by Victoriaville in 2012, had never scored more than 10 goals in his previous two seasons, but this year he’s one shy of 20. This past week he had three goals and two assists, bringing his point total on the season to 52, more than double his 24 points from last season.
West Division
Daniel Audette continues to excel in February for the Sherbrooke Phoenix. He was the overtime hero Friday night, scoring a power-play goal to secure two points for the Phoenix as they beat Rouyn-Noranda 5-4. Two nights later against the Val-d’Or Foreurs, Audette scored with less than minute left to send the game to overtime. The Phoenix scored four goals in the third period, including two by Audette, to erase a 7-3 lead. Val-d’Or held on to win in the shootout.
Audette, the first-overall pick of the 2012 Q draft, was a fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2014.
Despite almost blowing a huge lead against Sherbrooke, the Foreurs finished the week with a trio of wins thanks in part to scoring 18 goals. Centre Anthony Beauregard put four in the back of the net and added four assists on the way to being named the first star of wins over Blainville-Boisbriand (5-2), Drummondville (5-4) and Sherbrooke (8-7). Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, a Philadelphia Flyers second-round pick in 2014, scored a pair of goals and added six helpers in the wins.
Val-d’Or, one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, has slowly moved out of the bottom of the standings and are now a middle-of-the-pack team in 12th place with 58 points.
The QMJHL has dominated the CHL Player of the Week Award in 2015, picking up the award in five of six weeks this year. Danick Martel is the most recent Q player to win it for the week ending Feb. 8. The Blainville-Boisbriand centre was once again productive, picking up three goals and an assist this week.
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Three Stars
Anthony Beauregard, C, Val-d’Or Foreurs The Foreurs picked up three wins this week and Beauregard picked up first-star honours in each game. His best game came in a 5-4 win over Drummondville when he scored two goals, including the game winner, and added two assists. He finished the week with four goals and eight points.
Conor Garland, RW, Moncton Wildcats An assist in a 3-2 win over Victoriaville made Garland the first player to crack the century mark in points this season. Garland was consistent this week, posting an identical goal and two assists in all three games, finishing the week with three goals and six assists.
Christophe Lalonde, RW, Shawinigan Cataractes Christophe Lalonde was in familiar territory this week as the Cataractes took a road trip through the Maritimes. Lalonde started the season as the captain of the Moncton Wildcats and spent three-and-a-half seasons playing in the Maritimes division. He picked up three goals and three assists in three Shawinigan wins and was named first star against Cape Breton (6-2) and Halifax (6-5).