MONCTON, N.B. — The Cape Breton Eagles fired more than 20 shots on goal but were unable to beat Moncton Wildcats netminder Charles-Antoine Lavallée.
Lavallée turned aside all 23 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season to lead the Wildcats to a 4-0 win over the Eagles in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Avenir Centre on Friday.
Gavin Watt, Zachary L’Heureux, Mika Cyr and Philippe Daoust found the back of the net for the Wildcats (23-9-0-0) in front of 4,684 fans at the downtown Moncton venue.
As for the Eagles, the team dropped its second straight game on the club’s three-game road swing to wrap up the first half of the season. The team’s record falls to 17-13-1-1.
Kevin Mandolese stopped 31 of 33 shots for Cape Breton.
Moncton began the scoring early in the first period with Watt tipping home his first career QMJHL goal, before the Wildcats added to the lead midway through the second period on goal by L’Heureux.
The Wildcats secured the win late in the third period with a pair of empty net goals by Cyr and Daoust, sliding home his first career QMJHL marker.
Moncton outshot Cape Breton 35-23, while going 0-for-4 on the power play. The Eagles went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
Cape Breton will play the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday in the team’s final game before the Christmas break. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
NOTES: Defenceman Nathan Larose missed the game due to illness.; Adam McCormick, Cole Fraser and William Grimard, all upper-body injuries, also didn’t suit up for the Eagles. Meanwhile, Egor Sokolov remains at Russia’s national junior team selection camp.
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