QUEBEC — Pierrick Dube netted a hat trick as the Shawinigan Cataractes beat the Quebec Remparts 5-3 in Game 5 of their semifinal series Wednesday to advance to the QMJHL final.

Quebec entered the playoffs as the QMJHL regular-season champions, recording 104 points and a 51-15-2-0. Shawinigan was the Western Conference's No. 3 seed with 84 points in the regular season.

The Cataractes will see the Charlottetown Islanders in the championship round. The Islanders were the second-best team in the league this season, amassing 103 points.

Dube opened the scoring for Shawinigan, giving it a 1-0 lead 5:36 into the game.

The Remparts fired back with three goals to give themselves a 3-1 lead. Conor Frenette scored twice in the second period to put Quebec ahead.

Martin Has would get one back for the Cataractes with less than three minutes left to play in the second period and then Isaac Menard tied the game up a 3-3 at the 4:39 mark of the third.

That set the stage for Dube to pot home the game-winning goal on the power play with only 48 seconds left to play in regulation, followed by an empty-netter that sealed the deal with 23 ticks remaining.

The QMJHL championship series will begin Saturday in Charlottetown.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2022.