(Saint-Jean) William Dufour carried the Saint-Jean Sea Dogs almost alone to the Memorial Cup final.
Posted at 6:56 p.m.
Dufour scored four times and the tournament host came from a three-goal deficit before defeating the Shawinigan Cataractes 5-3 on Saturday at TD Station to close the preliminary round.
The Sea Dogs (2-0-1-0) needed a victory in regulation time to edge the Cataractes (2-0-0-1) at the top of the overall standings.
More than a month after being surprised by the Rimouski Océanic in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs, which led to the dismissal of head coach Gordie Dwyer, the Sea Dogs will therefore play for the title of the Canadian Hockey League, Wednesday.
For their part, the Cataractes, champions of the QMJHL, will play in the semi-finals on Monday against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Mauricie team defeated the OHL champions 3-2 on Thursday.
Dufour was the star of the game. He fired 15 of 36 shots on goal, allowing the Sea Dogs to overthrow the Cataracts.
Jérémie Poirier also hit the target for the Sea Dogs, who will be aiming for a second Memorial Cup title. Nikolas Hurtubise stopped 26 shots.
Loris Rafanomezantsoa, Olivier Nadeau and William Veillette generated the Cataractes offensive. Antoine Coulombe made 31 saves.
In two times
The Cataractes quickly opened the scoring after 49 seconds of play, when a Rafanomezantsoa shot slipped through traffic.
Both goaltenders made a few good saves afterward, but the Cataractes managed to widen the gap before the end of the period.
Nadeau first deflected a shot from Zachary Massicotte in the upper part with 5:27 to go.
Veillette then beat Hurtubise with a good backhand shot with 43 seconds left.
The tide quickly turned in the second period, when Dufour sounded the charge for the Sea Dogs.
Dufour first scored two goals in an interval of 21 seconds. He beat Coulombe with a low, accurate one-timer and then a shot to the top of the mitt side.
The most valuable player of the last season in the QMJHL was not yet satisfied. Dufour completed his hat trick at 8:38 of the second period. He took advantage of his own comeback after driving into the net.
The Cataractes took five minor penalties in a row in the second period and the Sea Dogs ended up making them pay for their indiscipline. Poirier gave the home favorites the lead at 14:12 on the power play with a long shot from the side of the shield.
Dufour continued to torment Coulombe in the third period. He scored his fourth goal of the night after 1:57 of play, thanks to another shot from the side of the mitt.
Hurtubise and the Sea Dogs defense then managed to neutralize the Cataractes attack.
Hurtubise went there with some acrobatic maneuvers in the last moments of the match, after the Cataractes replaced Coulombe with an additional striker.