Phoenix turn rink pink

The Sports Palace was awash with pink on Friday as fans and players took part in their fourth annual “Pink at the Rink” game which raises money for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
The Phoenix, along with the AFAEstrie, the regional association of business women, and students of Collège Mont Notre Dame high school raised $6,097.05 for the cause through a silent auction, as well as a raffle that gave fans a chance to win one of the pink jerseys worn and autographed by players from the team with the purchase of each $5 ticket.
“For the fourth consecutive year, the Sherbrooke Phoenix wanted to get involved in the fight against breast cancer. The combined efforts of the AFA Estrie, students of Collège Mont Notre Dame and our organization have helped a cause that we greatly to heart.
“I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this successful evening and we give appointment next year,” concluded the director of operations for the Sherbrooke Phoenix and event organizer, Sylvie Fortier.
The game went equally well for the Phoenix as Judes Vallée’s squad defeated the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 4-1 in front of 2,408 fans.
Alexandre Lagacé made 45 saves and picked up his first win of the season as the Phoenix halted their three-game winning streak with the victory.
Chase Harwell led the Phoenix offensively with two goals, as he opened the scoring at 9:33 of the first, and hit the net at 4:17 of the second.
Julien Pelletier and Guillaume Gauthier had the other Sherbrooke goals, as the Phoenix led 1-0 after one and 3-0 after two periods.
The Titan (3-7-1) outshot Sherbrooke 46-39 but it was not until late in the third that Vladimir Kuznetsov scored with 3:43 left to break the shutout.
Titan goalie Daryl MacCallum started the game, making 24 saves in 40 minutes of action, suffering the loss. Reilly Pickard came on to play the third period, making 11 stops in 20 minutes of relief work.
The good luck did not continue for Sunday’s game as a pair of late second-period goals gave the Val d’Or Foreurs (7-4-1) a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Sunday afternoon at the Palais des Sports. All the game’s scoring took place in the middle period, as the Phoenix took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but could not hold on for the win.
Guillaume Gauthier opened the scoring for Sherbrooke at 2:00 of the second, but the Foreurs’ Anthony Beauregard tied the game less than two-minutes later with a short-handed goal.
Carl Neill’s power-play goal at 8:01, his first goal of the year, restored the Sherbrooke lead, but Nicolas Aubé-Kubel replied for the Foreurs, again less than two minutes later.
Vincent Deslauriers put Sherbrooke up again at 15:10, but a pair of late second-period penalties led to two Val d’Or goals. Beauregard’s second of the game, at 16:22, tied the game up, and Anthony Richard sent in the game winner with just five seconds left in the period.
The Phoenix had a late 6-on-4 power play in the third period, but could not get another shot past Val d’Or’s Etienne Montpetit, who made 29 saves to pick up the win.
For Sherbrooke, Alex Lagacé made 31 saves and suffered the loss.
Val d’Or was 2-for-3 on the power play, while Sherbrooke was 1-for-5. The Foreurs outshot the Phoenix 35-32.
The Phoenix to 4-7-1 on the season after the split this weekend. They currently sit in 14th place overall and last in the West division.
Sherbrooke is back in action on Wednesday night, as they complete their stretch of six games in 11 days, when they visit the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (2-8). Their next home game is Sunday, Oct. 18, at 3 p.m. against the Shawinigan Cataractes.