QMJHL: Currie regains scoring lead after five-point night vs. Screaming Eagles

Josh Currie is doing everything he can to get his name on the Jean Beliveau Trophy.

The 20-year-old forward scored three times and set up two more as the P.E.I. Rocket blanked the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 6-0 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Heading into Friday's contest Currie trailed both Halifax Mooseheads' forward Jonathan Drouin and linemate Ben Duffy by three points for the league lead in scoring. However, the five-point performance moves Currie back into top spot with 46 goals and 100 points in 64 games.

Duffy picked up two assists for the Rocket (37-23-4), who have won back-to-back games, and also hit the 100-point mark, but with just 34 goals a tie-breaker would go to Currie.

Matej Beran and Deverick Ottereyes each had a goal and an assist for P.E.I. and Ryan Graves added a single goal.

Antoine Bibeau turned away 23 shots for his fourth shutout of the season.

Defenceman Jonathan Oligny was a team-worst minus-3 for the Screaming Eagles (13-43-8), who have just two wins in their last 10 outings, and David Honzik stopped 28-of-33 shots in defeat.

Honzik was replaced early in the third by Alex Bureau, who allowed one goal on seven shots in 14 minutes of relief.

P.E.I. went 1 for 2 on the power play, and scored once shorthanded, while Cape Breton failed to score on eight chances with the man advantage.

Drouin is currently third in league scoring with 98 points in 45 games, however his chance of catching Currie or Duffy is slim as he missed Friday's Mooseheads' game with a lower-body injury. Both Halifax and P.E.I. have four regular-season games remaining and it's unclear how many Drouin will dress in as his club has already guaranteed home-ice advantage through the post season.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL, it was: Halifax 3, Moncton 1; Saint John 2, Acadie-Bathurst 1; Chicoutimi 7, Sherbrooke 2; Quebec 5, Victoriaville 3; Blainville-Boisbriand 4, Baie-Comeau 2; Shawinigan 5, Drummondville 3; Gatineau 8 Val-d'Or 7 (SO) and Rouyn-Noranda 4, Rimouski 3.

At Charlottetown, Beran scored 6:02 into the first period to give his club a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Ottereyes put P.E.I. up two goals at 3:48 of the second period and Currie scored his first of the night early in the third period to make it 3-0.

Graves and Currie added goals 32 seconds apart, which lead to Honzik being pulled from Cape Breton's net, and Currie completed his hat trick at 17:58.

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Mooseheads 3 Wildcats 1

At Halifax, Ont., Luca Ciampini and Darcy Ashley each had a goal and an assist as Canada's number-1 ranked team, the Mooseheads (53-6-4), handed Moncton (40-21-2) its first regulation loss in eight games.

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Sea Dogs 2 Titan 1

At Saint John, N.B., Sebastien Auger stopped 44-of-45 shots and Maxime Villemaire scored the winner at 13:04 of the third period as the Sea Dogs (23-40-1) snapped a three-game winless streak by downing Acadie-Bathurst (25-32-7).

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Sagueneens 7 Phoenix 2

At Sherbrooke, Que., Charles Hudon had a goal and three assists and Lukas Sedlak scored twice as Chicoutimi (28-30-7) crushed the Phoenix (20-36-8), who failed to earn a point for the first time in five games.

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Remparts 5 Tigres 3

At Victoriaville, Que., Francois Brassard turned away 37 shots and Logan Shaw scored once and set up two more as Quebec (38-21-5) halted the Tigres (31-25-8) five-game win streak.

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Armada 4 Drakkar 2

At Boisbriand, Que., Marc-Olivier Roy scored two goals, including the winner, and Etienne Marcoux stopped 24-of-26 shots as the Armada (39-17-8) doubled up Baie-Comeau (41-19-5) for their third win in a row.

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Olympiques 8 Foreurs 7 (SO)

At Gatineau, Que., Adam Chapman scored twice in regulation and the shootout winner while Emile Poirier had three goals and two assists as the Olympiques (28-32-4) snapped an eight-game winless streak by defeating Val-d'Or (35-24-5).

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Huskies 4 Oceanic 3

At Rimouski, Que., Sven Andrighetto and Jean-Sebastien Dea each had a goal and an assist and Alexandre Belanger made 25 saves as Rouyn-Noranda (36-24-4) edged the Oceanic (39-16-9), who fell to 19-8-5 on home ice.