Q Round-up: MacKinnon Scores Five Times

Nathan MacKinnon played the game of his young career last week.

The 16-year-old rookie scored five times in a Mooseheads 6-4 win over the Quebec Remparts. MacKinnon scored the last five Halifax goals to beat the second best team in the league.

MacKinnon has 49 points in 29 games so far this season, and scored his 15^th, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th goals of the season.

He was obviously named the game’s first star.

The Remparts took a 2-1 lead and a shots edge of 18-6 after 20 minutes, then the MacKinnon show got underway. He first tipped an Alex Grenier shot to tie the game 2-2. After two Rempart goals, he then scored a goal off a Konrad Abeltsauser breakaway pass with two Rempart defencemen in hot pursuit.

In the third period, MacKinnon deked out Quebec goalie Louis Domingue from the corner for his third goal of the evening. He scored his fourth goal off a wrap-around, and added an empty net goal for good measure.

For his part, MacKinnon was a +4, took six shots, and went 11-for-23 in the faceoff circle.

Rempart and fellow super-rookie Mikhail Grigorenko registered a goal and an assist in the contest.

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Moncton Wildcat winger Olivier D’Aoust is the latest player to run into the league’s 5-0.

The 19-year-old forward was suspended eight games for a hit from behind on Saint John defenceman Jason Seed in a game at the Moncton Coliseum on Nov. 29.

The league had this to say in regards to its decision:

“The player at fault was in the neutral zone at the opposing team’s blue line. He accelerated and took 7 to 8 strides and let himself slide for the last 20 feet. His opponent was facing the boards at the goal-level red line.

He was in a vulnerable position and didn’t see the player at fault coming towards him. The player at fault hit his opponent with force in the back and finished his check with his arm close to the neck.
The opponent placed himself in a vulnerable position. However, the player at fault had the time to react and avoid partial or full contact. The opponent’s head hit the glass with force. The opponent suffered an injury on the play.

The distance traveled, speed and force of the impact were determining factors which led to the decision.”

As per usual suspension protocol with the league, they made their decision after looking at videotape of the incident, gathering testimonies from the players and the organizations involved, reading the officials’ report and consulting the independent committee in the matter of disciplinary sanctions.

D’Aoust was immediately suspended indefinitely, and will be able to return to action Dec. 30, in Moncton against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

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The Halifax Mooseheads can add another talented young player to their coffers.

Jonathan Drouin, the second overall pick in the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft, was confirmed to join the team last weekend, the Chronicle Herald and league website reports.

Drouin has 22 goals and 53 points with the Lac St. Louis AAA Lions in the Quebec midget ranks. He was threatening to go to school in the United States and play college hockey, but after some consideration, decided to join the Mooseheads.

He will begin playing from the team once he passes a physical. He is currently nursing a minor groin injury. He will also play in the upcoming World Under-17 Championships.

He is the second player this season that has joined his junior team after pulling the threat jumping the border and joining the U.S. College ranks. Victoriaville Tigres forward Philippe Hudon had been practising with the team for a couple weeks after leaving his college team, Cornell. He signed and made his debut with the team this past weekend. Hudon had one assist in two games.

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The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced their three stars for the month of November.

Saint John Sea Dogs center Zack Phillips was named the first star of the league. The 19-year-old has earned a point in each game since Oct. 14, 22 games ago. Phillips earned at least a point in every game of November during his streak, still ongoing.

Phillips earned 16 of his 23 points on the month in road games. He tallied five goals and 18 assists in November.

Second star was Remparts rookie Mikhail Grigorenko. The right winger scored 10 goals and added nine assists over the month. He also scored two-or-more points in seven games during November. Grigorenko is currently tied in fourth place in goals with 23.

Third star was Roman Will of the Moncton Wildcats. Will went 7-0-1-0 in the month of November, on the tail end of his team’s nine game winning streak. Will’s only loss came in overtime against the Saint John Sea Dogs on Nov. 29. He had a shutout, and recorded a GAA of 1.81 and a save percentage of .934 over that span.

The weekly honours celebrate familiar names for this week.

Rimouski defenceman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc was named first star of the week. He tallied seven points over the week, including a four point game against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Second star was Nathan MacKinnon of the Mooseheads. He compiled his five-goal game and added an assist.

Third star was Remparts rookie goaltender Francois Brossard, for nearly recording a shutout in his lone start of the week against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. The Remparts won 7-1, and Logan Shaw of the Eagles scored in the 59^th minute.

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The top three in scoring remain the same, as Zach O’Brien and Sebastien Trudeau of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan get settled in their spots as the top scorers.

O’Brien leads the league with 58 points, one up on Trudeau. Tigres forward Yanni Gourde sits in third with 53 points. O’Brien still has never taken a penalty in his QMJHL career; he has 0 PIM.

Matthew Bissonnette claims the fourth spot with 52 points, one up on Phillips of the Sea Dogs. The league’s second highest scoring Zach/Zack rests one point behind Bissonnette at 51.

Sixth place is Remparts’ rookie Mikhail Grigorenko, with an even 50 points. MacKinnon, the other rookie phenom, sits one back with 49. The top ten are rounded out by Rimouski defenceman Jerome Gauthier-Leduc with 46 points, Moncton forward Alex Saulnier with 45, and Rimouski forward Alexandre Mallet with 43.

Gauthier-Leduc’s 46 points are easily the best numbers posted by a defenceman so far this season. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies defenceman Mathieu Brisebois sits in second with 30 points. Mathieu Gagnon of the Gatineau Olympiques rests in third with 28 points, and Brandon Gormley of the Moncton Wildcats sits in fourth with 27. Two players are tied for fifth with 26: Saint John’s Nathan Beaulieu, and Quebec’s Martin Lefebvre.

O’Brien plowed past Saint John’s Danick Gauthier for the league’s lead in goals. O’Brien’s 29 markers paces the league. Gauthier rested idle this week with 26. Bissonnette sits in third with 25 goals. Grigorenko and Shawinigan’s Anton Zlobin round out the top five with 23 apiece.

Behind Grigorenko and MacKinnon in rookie scoring is Sven Andrighetto of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies with 37 points. Andrighetto’s teammate, Denis Kamaev sits in fourth with 32 points, and Peter Trainor of the Oceanic lies in fifth place with 31 points.

Saint John’s Mathieu Corbeil is still the league’s winningest goalie. He leads the league with 19 victories. The Wildcats’ Roman Will sits in second place with 17 wins, followed by Shawinigan’s Alex Dubeau with 15. Rookie goalie Zachary Fucale of the Halifax Mooseheads has 14.

Domingue still tops the league in save percentage, but his gap is less this week. The Quebec netminder has a percentage of .924. His teammate, rookie Francois Brossard, is second with .920. Corbeil is third with .916. Three more goaltenders have save percentages above .900: Francois Lacerte of the Olympiques has .904, and Will and Dubeau have .901 marks.

Corbeil still holds the GAA lead, sitting with 2.26. Domingue is in second with 2.46, and teammate Brossard is in third at 2.50. Jimmy Appleby of Baie-Comeau is fourth with a 2.63 mark. Three more goalies are under 3 goals-a-game: Dubeau, Will and Fucale.