Oceanic take 3-2 series lead

Rimouski Oceanic

The Rimouski Oceanic are one win away from playing in the QMJHL championship series.

Maël Lavigne scored at 17:59 of overtime to give the Oceanic a 3-2 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes on Friday night along with a 3-2 series lead. Rimouski can secure a spot in the league final with a Game 6 victory on Sunday in Shawinigan.

The winner of this series will take on the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL final. The Wildcats completed a sweep of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Wednesday.

If the Oceanic – this year's Memorial Cup hosts – do advance, the Wildcats would automatically earn a spot in the Memorial Cup.

Former Saint John Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko also scored in the Oceanic victory. It was his second goal of the series and fifth of the playoffs. He also recorded eight shots and delivered nine hits.

QUEL TIR DE MATEIKO🇱🇻!

C’est 1-1 en fin de 2e! 🚨#gonicsgo pic.twitter.com/yoTfI0k0fi

— L'Océanic de Rimouski (@oceanicrimouski) May 3, 2025

Vince Elie, meanwhile, posted an assist and four shots in the loss.

The Rimouski/Shawinigan series is the lone CHL semifinal that didn't end in a sweep. Along with the Wildcats sweeping the Huskies, the Medicine Hat Tigers swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Spokane Chiefs swept the Portland Winterhawks, the London Knights swept the Kitchener Rangers and the Oshawa Generals swept the Barrie Colts.

The OHL final will see the Knights and Generals meet for a second straight year. In the WHL, Gavin McKenna and the Tigers will face the Chiefs.

Some other Friday night news and notes...

• At the IIHF U18 Men's World Championship in Texas, Travis Crickard and Team Canada will play for gold on Saturday following a 4-0 win over Slovakia in the semifinals. Blainville-Boisbriand Armada defensemen Xavier Villeneuve, who has been one of the breakout stars of this tournament, scored in the victory. Canada will play Sweden for gold. That game can be seen at 9 p.m. Atlantic on TSN.
• Florian Schenk scored his fourth goal of the tournament but it wasn't enough as Switzerland fell 5-4 in a shootout to Norway in Wednesday's relegation game. The loss means the Swiss are relegated from the U18 top division for the first time since 2006.
• In the best-of-five AHL divisional semifinals:
• Spencer Smallman had two shots in the Hershey Bears' 3-1 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. That series is tied 1-1.
• Joshua Roy had a team high five shots in the Laval Rocket's 4-0 win over the Cleveland Monsters. Laval leads the series 2-0.
• Riley Bezeau did not play in the Charlotte Checkers' 5-1 win over the Providence Bruins. The Checkers lead that series 1-0.
• In the second round of the ECHL playoffs:
• Nicolas Guay had four shots and Vincent Sevigny three in the Trois-Rivieres Lions' 1-0 win over the Norfolk Admirals. The Lions lead the series 1-0.
• Matt Murphy was a +2 in the Fort Wayne Komets' 5-4 loss to the Toledo Walleye. The Walleye lead the series 1-0.
• Kelly Bent had one shot in the Orlando Solar Bears' 5-3 loss to the Florida Everblades. The Everblades lead the series 1-0.