The Gatineau Olympiques came within 56 seconds of their first shutout of the year Friday night in Sherbrooke.
Gatineau (7-13-1) beat the host Sherbrooke Phoenix (4-17-2) 4-1 at the Palais des Sports Leopold-Drolet, building an insurmountable lead in the first period.
Taylor Burke (shorthanded) Emile Poirier and Tomas Hyka (on the power play) each scored in the first, with Burke adding a second 13 minutes into the middle period.
Alex Hazlehurst’s first QMJHL goal broke Michael Nishi’s shutout bid at the 19:04 mark of the third period.
Nishi stopped 31 shots for the win, while Jack Flinn took the loss with 20 saves.
Sherbrooke failed to score on 11 power plays, while Gatineau went one for four.
