Rimouski looks for first win in showdown vs. London in Memorial Cup action on TSN
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The host Rimouski Oceanic look to pick up their first win at the Memorial Cup tonight as they take on the OHL champion London Knights on TSN.
Watch Rimouski take on London in Memorial Cup action LIVE at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on TSN1/5 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Rimouski lost 5-4 in the tournament opener against Gavin McKenna and the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night as Hunter St. Martin scored the winner with 2:41 remaining in the third period to secure the win for the WHL champions. Medicine Hat scored three times in the third, led by Bryce Pickford scoring twice in the game and McKenna notching a goal and an assist.
Maël Lavigne, Maël St-Denis, Jacob Mathieu and Jonathan Fauchon all scored for the Oceanic with goaltender Mathis Langevin making 33 saves.
Fauchon led the entire QMJHL in scoring this season with 46 goals and 103 points in 64 games, split between the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Oceanic. He has added 22 points throughout the playoffs.
Oceanic captain Jacob Mathieu has been instrumental for his team, leading the QMJHL playoffs in goals (17) and points (31) in 23 games. The 21-year-old had 41 goals and 68 points in 59 regular-season games.
Langevin, who appeared in only 12 games during the regular season split between the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Oceanic, has been strong in net for Rimouski in the playoffs, going 12-3-1 with a .944 save percentage and 1.57 goals-against average.
For London, they edged the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night. After exchanging goals in the first two periods, a scoreless third sent them to overtime where Edmonton Oilers prospect Sam O'Reilly scored the winner, his second of the game, on a pass from Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan.
“They’re good players and they want to win really bad,” Knights head coach Dale Hunter said postgame. “They play hard and when the big games are on the line they come through.”
The Knights duo of Cowan and Kasper Halttunen have been big throughout the playoffs with Cowan leading the OHL playoffs in points with 39 points while Halttunen was second in goals with 15.
San Jose Sharks first-round pick defenceman Sam Dickinson has led the way for London on the blueline, scoring nine goals with 31 points in 17 playoff games. In the regular season, he had 29 goals and 91 points in 55 games.
Overage goaltender Austin Elliott, who started his CHL career with the Saskatoon Blades before being picked up by the Knights for the 2024-25 campaign, has been a rock for London all season long. During the regular season, he lost just one game, going 32-1-0 with a .924 save percentage and 2.10 GAA. In the playoffs, he went 16-1-0 with a .906 save percentage and 2.46 GAA.
Rimouski, who lost in the QMJHL championship series in six games to Moncton, last won the Memorial Cup in 2000. London, who were the tournament runner-ups last year to the Saginaw Spirit, won the CHL title in 2016 with a 3-2 overtime win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.