Baie-Comeau Drakkar started their QMJHL campaign with a 4-3 victory over Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Friday evening. The home side, making their first appearance of the season, proved they could handle the pressure of a new start. To be fair, the visitors had already played three games without finding the scoreboard.
And here's the thing about opening nights — they rarely go exactly to plan. The Saguenéens came in with three defeats behind them, while the Drakkar had just seven losses across their previous outings. By then, the pattern was clear: one side looking for momentum, the other searching for relief.
Chicoutimi's record tells its own story. Three games, three losses, zero points sitting them in tenth place. The Drakkar, meanwhile, had nothing to lose in ninth. Cup football has its own rules, and junior hockey works the same way — every point matters more when you're starting from scratch.
The result keeps the Drakkar's hopes alive for their first win of the season. For Chicoutimi, it extends a winless run that will need turning around quickly. The gap between them remains tight, but the psychological weight shifts after a match like this.
Four goals against three suggests a game decided by fine margins. Neither side dominated completely, and that's often how these opening encounters play out. The standings will only change meaning once both teams have played more than one game, but tonight belonged to Baie-Comeau.