William Lacelle's strong play continued since his trade to Blainville-Boisbriand
Friday saw six games take place across the QMJHL, with the top three teams all picking up comprehensive victories. That includes another strong performance for new Armada goalie William Lacelle.
Zoomed In: Blainville-Boisbriand (6) - Val-d'Or (0)
William Lacelle has been lights out for Blainville-Boisbriand since a mid-season trade from Rimouski. (Photo: Dany Germain)When Blainville-Boisbriand traded for William Lacelle during the holiday trade period, the idea was to provide stability to a goaltending position that had been suffering from injuries (Jakub Milota) and poor performance (Arseni Radkov).
Lacelle has given more than just stability. He's given the Armada the best goaltending in the league since his arrival. While it would be unfair to say he wasn't seen as one of the best goalies in the league with Rimouski, it also wouldn't have been totally fair to throw the expectations of dominance on his shoulders right away.
But, he's been lights out, likely raising his NHL draft stock, which will continue growing if he can keep these good performances going deep into the spring.
On Friday, Lacelle posted his fourth shutout in just 11 starts with Blainville, blanking a Val-d'Or side who definitely know how to score goals.
Aiding Lacelle tonight was the long-awaited return of Spencer Gill, who'd been limited to just two games this season due to injury.
It was another player who's finding his footing after injury who opened the scoring, as top Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Bill Zonnon's eighth of the year gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first.
Goals from Matt Gosselin and Olivier Lemieux followed, as the Armada coasted with a 3-0 first period lead heading into the intermission.
The second saw star St. Louis Blues prospect Justin Carbonneau score his CHL-leading 42nd goal of the year, and Vincent Desjardins on the power play to extend the lead to five. Zonnon doubled down in the third, as Blainville-Boisbriand skated away with the 6-0 victory.
Zonnon's three (2+1) point effort led the way, while Lacelle needed 22 stops to pick up his ninth career QMJHL shutout.
Other Scores
Victoriaville (1) - Cape Breton (5)
Moncton (11) - Halifax (1)
Gatineau (1) - Drummondville (4)
Quebec (8) - Rimouski (3)
Baie-Comeau (4) - Chicoutimi (6)
Player of the Night
Caleb Desnoyers (MON) - 1 goal, 3 assists
Tonight's Games
Shawinigan at Saint John - 2 PM EST
Sherbrooke at Val-d'Or - 4 PM EST
Blainville-Boisbriand at Rouyn-Noranda - 4 PM EST
Victoriaville at Cape Breton - 6 PM EST
Related
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