From the initial drop of the puck, things started off quite poorly for the Comets, as the Forestiers dominated puck possession and looked visibly quicker than their opponent.

In the first 12 minutes of the game, the Forestiers scored three powerplay goals in the first on five opportunities. Down 3-0 heading into the dressing room, the Comets were on their heels and looked a step behind in every aspect of the game.

Coming back from the break, the Comets seemed visibly more energized and determined to spark a comeback. However, after adding another goal just over five minutes into the frame, the Montagnards extended their advantage to 4-0.

At that point, the scene inside the arena was becoming grim, as fans seemed to realize that a blowout was unfolding.

However, at around the mid-way point of the period, the Comets showed sign of life.

After David Croteau notched his third goal of the season with a one-timer on the powerplay, assisted by Stéphane Paré and Darcy Findlay, the Comets brought the deficit to 4-1.

Just under nine minutes later, Comets made it 4-2 after defenseman Maxime Belley sniped his second of the campaign on a hard one-timer from the point set up by Croteau and Findlay.

Heading into the intermission down only two goals, fans seemed reenergized and excited for a Comets third period comeback.

Instead, the Comets fell back into their first period funk, allowing another three goals in quick succession with two on the powerplay. When it was all said and done, the score line showed a convincing 7-2 in favour of Maniwaki.

After the game, Comets head coach Jean-Francois Lavergne was quite critical of hist team’s performance, pointing to his group’s lack of intensity and discipline as contributing factors for their downfall.

“We took too many penalties and we gave them momentum in the game because of it,” he said. “We seemed to be a little soft at the start of the game, so we took bad penalties and they took advantage.”

The Forestiers powerplay was no match for the Comets penalty killers, as they went five for 11 on the night with three in the first period and another two in the third.

Lavergne noted that coming into the third period down two goals, he was confident about his team’s chance of coming back and believed that they actually didn’t start out as poorly as the score line showed.

However, he explained that had his team not fell into penalty trouble, they most likely would’ve been able to give themselves a chance to stay in the game.

Going forward, Lavergne said the key for his team’s success will be for his players to collectively perform to the level of their abilities on a consistent basis.

“It’s about finding a way to all come out strong at the same time,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a period since the start of the season that we’ve done it – that we we’re 20 players on a peak. It’s about everybody finding a way to bring their ‘A’ game at the same time and to stay disciplined.”

On Sunday night, things didn’t get much better for the boys from Coulonge, as the Comets hit the road to Mont-Laurier only to collapse at the hands of the Montagnards by a score of 7-4.

A tale similar to their previous game, the Comets started off slow and found themselves down 3-0 by the midway point of the first period.

But the Comets struck back with two quick ones of their own to make it 3-2 after a snipe from the stick of Ryan Peck assisted by Matthew Warren and Olivier Donovan and another by Guillaume Lagace with help from Findlay and Paré just three minutes later.

Coming into the second period, it didn’t take long for the Montagnards to double their advantage to 4-2 after scoring one just under four minutes into the frame.

But like in first period, the Comets answered with back to back goals of their own making it a 4-4 deadlock going into the third.

Goal scorers included Matthew Warren with his fifth of the season, assisted by Findlay and Lagacé followed up with one of his own, his second of the game, unassisted on the penalty kill.

In the third period, the Comets were poised to come out firing and get back in the winning column. Instead, they experienced their third late game collapse in as many games allowing three straight goals in the first 10 minutes of the frame.

In addition Croteau received a 10-minute penalty for verbal abuse of an official.

When it was all said and done, the Montagnards took home the win by a score of 7-4, handing the Comets their third straight loss and fourth in the team’s first five games of the season.

After the game, the Comets bench boss had relatively positive words about his team’s performance following their third straight loss.

While he admitted that his group started off on the wrong foot, he praised his team’s resilience in the second period and how they battled throughout the second half of the game.

For Lavergne, the biggest factor in deciding the result was the Montagnards opportunism. He stated that for portions of the game, his group was far and away the better team. The problem was that they didn’t take advantage of their opponents’ mistakes while Mont-Laurier did just that.

“All the little errors that we did, they profited from,” he said. “Whereas, we had a lot of scoring chances and we weren’t able to put it in. That was really a big turning point in the game.”

Having allowed at least six goals in each of their last three games, Lavergne noted that one of the main reasons for his team’s defensive struggles are a high number of odd-man rushes caused by mental mistakes in the offensive zone.

“Sometimes we make bad decisions with the puck and opposing teams take advantage of it against us,” he said. “I think we’re playing well defensively. Often, the goals we allow come from poor decisions offensively with the puck.”

Now at 1-4-0, the Comets are tied for the fourth and last place in the Outaouais Senior AA Hockey League (OSAAHL) standings.

Preparing for the next tilt, the team’s mindset is about focusing on the positive aspects of their game, not dwelling on the results not going their way and always looking ahead.

“For us what counts is the second half of the season,” he said. “That’s how we’re looking at things.”

For their next game, the Comets will look for some revenge in a battle of the OSAAHL’s two last place teams. They will visit the 1-4-0 Mont Tremblant Diables, a team that edged them out by a score of 6-3 a couple of weeks ago.

Comets forward Francis Desforges skates the puck through traffic in the neutral zone against Maniwaki.

Comets goaltender Danick Boisvert sprawls out with no chance to stop a back-door one-timer on one of the Forestiers third period powerplays.

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