Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Playoff Update: A night of upsets

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Three Games 7s, three upsets.

It was an incredible night in QMJHL playoff action as all three road teams were victorious in Game 7, setting up a set of very unlikely second round matchups.

The biggest of the upsets saw the No. 14 seed Moncton Wildcats defeat the No. 3 seed Rimouski Oceanic 6-3. The Oceanic were able to fire just 20 shots on Moncton netminder Mark Grametbauer, who became the story of the series after being called out by Rimouski's head coach.

The victory is one of the biggest upsets in QMJHL history and marks the second straight season that the No. 3 seed has been eliminated in the first round. Last year, Val-d'Or defeated Shawinigan in six games.

The junior careers of former Sea Dogs Samuel Dove-McFalls (Rimouski's captain) and Chase Stewart ended in the loss.

In Quebec City, the Charlottetown Islanders and Quebec Remparts entered the third period tied 2-2 and appeared destined for overtime - then Charlottetown exploded for six goals, going on to an 8-3 victory. Pascal Aquin scored for goals for Charlottetown, three of which came in the third period.

Former Sea Dogs forward Daniel Hardie had two assists for Charlottetown.

In Rouyn-Noranda, the Sherbrooke Phoenix picked up their first playoff series win in franchise history, defeating the Huskies 3-1. It's the first series win for a Sherbrooke QMJHL team since the Castors defeated the Montreal Rocket in seven games in 2003.

Former Sea Dogs defenceman Luke Green had an assist for the Phoenix.
The second round matchups will be as follows:

Blainville-Boisbriand (1) vs Moncton (14)
Bathurst (2) vs Sherbrooke (10)
Halifax (4) vs Charlottetown (9)
Drummondville (5) vs Victoriaville (6)

There are three Game 7s in the WHL this evening as well, including Danny Flynn's Portland Winterhawks taking on the Spokane Chiefs. On Monday, the Memorial Cup host Regina Pats were eliminated in seven games by the Swift Current Broncos.

Meanwhile, in the MHL playoffs, Kyle Ward scored in overtime to give the Edmundston Blizzard a 3-2 win over the Summerside Western Capitals. The Blizzard now lead the conference final playoff series 2-1.

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