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Montreal, QC • Canada • 31 Years Old • Male

Allen Leads Juniors To Shut Out Victory

<b>Allen Leads Juniors To Victory</b>


<b>Montreal. Wednesday, November 5, 2008.</b> In a rare weekday start at home, the Juniors de Montreal welcomed the Foreurs de Val D’Or to the Verdum Auditorium in front of a young and excited audience. Among the spectators on Wednesday night, the Juniors were pleased to welcome the students of Royal Vale High School. In participation with the English Montreal School Board, the Montreal Juniors have launched a student out-reach program in which players from the Juniors would visit the schools to talk about how they have been able to combine academics with hockey. In return for the visit, the students are then offered the opportunity to attend a Juniors game with the friends and class-mates. The students from Westmount High are the next participants in this inaugural program when the Juniors host the Titans from Acadie-Bathurst next Wednesday. (Schools interested in taking part in the program can email [email][email protected][/email].)


<b>Montreal Juniors 1 - Val D’Or Foreurs 0 </b>


In front of a packed house of just under 3,300 spectators and a few local celebrities, the Montreal Juniors continued their strong play at home on Wednesday night. Montreal entered the game with a 9-9 record and were in need of a victory to catch up to the division leading Huskies.

The game started off as a tug of war. Both teams were getting offensive chances right off the bat and the early stars of the game were certainly the goalies. Montreal netminder Jake Allen held off an early period charge by the Foreurs and was rewarded when the Juniors scored the first goal of the game. The Juniors goal came on the power play at the 14:47 mark of the first period when Angelo Esposito batted a rebound past Val D’Or netminder Jean-Sébastien Boucher. Nick Layton and Dmitri Kostromtin earned assists on the play while Esposito earned a point in his first game back from injury. Esposito had injured his hand two weeks prior and the Juniors had been missing his offensive spark. Montreal held the momentum for most of the period thanks to a massive bodycheck by Pat O’Keefe and outshot the Foreurs 17-16, bouyed by Jake Allen’s strong performance.

The second period was a dominated by the Foreurs. Unfortunately for Val D’Or, everytime it seemed that they were gaining momentum, they would take a penalty. Montreal enjoyed 3 straight power plays through the middle portion of the period but were unsuccessful at beating Boucher. Val D’Or outshot Montreal 12-4, while Allen continued his strong performance. Boucher faced little action and was fortunate when a Guillaume Asselin wrist shot glanced off the post.

Keeping the Foreurs at bay with tenacious forechecking and a strong emphasis on bodychecking, Val D’Or were continuously pushed away all game long by Jake Allen’s lightning quick reflex saves. Aided by the strong defensive play by Brennan and Kostromitin, Montreal earned a well deserved hard-fought win.. Jake Allen’s 41 save shutout performance earned him 1st star and Angelo Esposito’s 3rd goal of the year got him the 3rd star selection.

Montreal earned their 10th win of the season and are now within 4 points of 1st place in the Telus Western Division. The Juniors hit the road to face Gatineau on Friday night, returning home to play Shawinigan at home on Saturday afternoon. For more information please visit www.juniordemontreal.com.


English Game Reports By Steven Hindle

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