(Saint-Jean) The Shawinigan Cataractes have announced that they will not be easy prey at the Memorial Cup.
Posted at 9:16 p.m.
Pierrick Dubé and Olivier Nadeau scored within a 1:18 range early in the third period as the QMJHL champions defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 on Tuesday at TD Station in the two teams’ opener at the Canadian Hockey League championship.
Perceived by many to be the underdogs of the tournament, the Cataractes benefited from the largesse of Sebastian Cossa in net for the Western League champions.
Even though the Detroit Red Wings’ 2021 first-round pick, 15e in total, had a few smoky shots, he didn’t look very good on the Cataracts’ goals.
If he had his eyesight on Dubé’s equalizer at 5:37 of the final third, Cossa lost his balance and was the source of his misfortune on Nadeau’s winning goal a few moments later.
At the other end of the ice, Charles-Antoine Lavallée didn’t have his best night either, but his 25 saves made the difference.
Xavier Bourgault had a goal and an assist, while Jordan Tourigny also hit the target for the Cataractes. Mavrik Bourque had two assists.
For the Oil Kings, Luke Prokop had a goal and an assist. Tyler Horstmann and Cole Miller also moved the ropes. Cossa stopped 31 shots.
The Oil Kings were therefore unable to put an end to the jinx of the Western League champions at the Memorial Cup. The WHL monarchs haven’t won the tournament round robin since 2015. They’ve gone 0-12 in the last four Memorial Cups.
Brad Lauer’s troop had to manage for the majority of the meeting with one attacker less. Carson Golder received a major penalty and a game misconduct for giving Maximilien Ledoux some boards early in the first period.
On Wednesday, the Oil Kings will face the Saint John Sea Dogs. The latter won the first game of the tournament 5-3 against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Monday.