L’Oceanic 7, Olympiques 1

Already assured of their first winning month of the season with a game still to go, the Gatineau Olympiques knew their season-long winning streak wasn’t going to last forever.

The red-hot Rimouski Oceanic, on what is now a seven-game winning streak of their own, determined it would end Friday.

In a month where the Olympiques have gone 6-2 in their last eight (and 7-3 for the month) to jump from 15th overall in the standings to 12th, the Olympiques at times out-played the league’s second-best club before running out of gas and bowing in front of a crowd of 2,675 at the Robert Guertin Arena.

Despite the Olympiques tying the Oceanic in shots, there’s a reason 24 points separate the two teams. The Oceanic take advantage of everything a team gives them and the Olympiques obliged on just enough occasions.

Rimouski built a 3-1 first period lead on goals by Ryan MacKinnon, Kevin Gagne and Jan Koskelak, two of them the result of bad bounces.

Gatineau’s only goal came by way of Derek Sheppard.

Scott Oke of Rimouski scored the only goal of the second before Michael Joly made things academic with a pair in the third, along with a single by Francis Beauvillier.

Still, Gatineau has reason to look forward to the stretch drive.

The 8-3 run since Dec. 30 includes six wins away from the Bob, which has allowed the Olympiques to become one of only nine teams in the league with a road record above .500 (12-11-1-1).

Unfortunately, unlike in Gatineau’s glory years, opposing teams haven’t found the Guertin the least bit intimidating, with the Olympiques struggling at three games under .500 and the fourth-lowest home wins total at nine.

dcampbell@ottawacitizen.com