Moncton takes second shot at QMJHL title against Rimouski
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The Moncton Wildcats get a second shot at lifting the Gilles-Courteau Trophy as champions of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League when they take on the Rimouski Oceanic in Game 5 of the final on Saturday.
Rimouski had their backs against the wall with a 3-0 series deficit entering Game 4 on Thursday, but were able to get the jump on Moncton early and earn a 5-1 win to push the series to a Game 5.
The series shifts back to the Avenir Centre in Moncton as the Wildcats go for their third QMJHL title and their first since they defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs in six games in 2010.
In Game 4, Rimouski scored early and often in the first period putting Moncton in a hole that they could never recover from.
Forward Maël Lavigne found the net 1:04 into the opening frame and also assisted on Maxime Coursol's power-play goal three minutes later to give the Oceanic the early advantage.
Centre Maël St-Denis and QMJHL regular season leading scorer Jonathan Fauchon also scored for Rimouski in the first period while Washington Capitals prospect Eriks Mateiko added a final nail to the coffin late in the second period to put the game away.
Anaheim Ducks draft pick Alexandre Blais also contributed three assists in the victory, bringing his playoff total to five goals and 20 points in 21 games.
"I'm really happy with the way we started this game," Oceanic head coach Joël Perrault said after the game. "The four goals were probably unexpected, you don't expect to start a game like that, but we're proud of the players and the way the managed.
"There's no tomorrow when you're playing in a game like that and there's a lot of belief and character in our room, which we showed tonight."
Special teams were a huge factor in the game with Moncton stuck on the penalty kill five times in the first period.
In the end, Rimouski went 2-for-6 on the man advantage while outshooting the Wildcats 40-30 in the match.
Oceanic goaltender Mathis Langevin stood tall when he had to, making 29 saves while only allowing one goal.
"They found a way to get one tonight," TSN Hockey Analyst Carlo Colaiacovo said postgame. "The mountain is pretty high going into Game 4 being down 3-0, but for Perrault the message was pretty simple, 'worry about winning one game.' Rimouski went out and played an unbelievable first period to the point where I questioned whether Moncton showed up for the period. They started with four goals in the first to completely put this game away
"That's got to be a good feeling for Rimouski because they've had some hard-luck losses in their last couple of games. The mountain seems hard to climb but you can't complete a comeback without winning the first game."
Wildcats netminder Rudy Guimond's perfect season came to an end after he allowed three goals on eight shots and was pulled after just eight minutes of play. Mathis Rousseau came in the game in relief stopping 25 of 27 shots.
Guimond, a Detroit Red Wings prospect, now has an 8-1 record in the postseason with a 2.25 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. He went 16-0-0 in the regular season with a 1.73 GAA and .940 save percentage.
Forward Julius Sumpf scored the loan Wildcats goal late in the third period to end Lengevin's shutout bid.
"Hunger was the main difference tonight. The Oceanic played a much hungrier game than us tonight," Wildcats head coach Gardiner MacDougall said after the game. "It's a championship final with two very good teams and it's very few times where a team goes down four straight.
"Sometimes you go so far with wins that you need a loss to have a reality check. The last time we lost, we won eight in a row after that and if we can get that formula going, we'll take it in a minute."
The QMJHL Final will continue on Monday for Game 6 in Rimouski if the Oceanic is able to pull out another victory. That game can be seen LIVE at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on TSN3, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.