Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Wildcats move on to semifinal

Vincent Éthier / CHL
The Moncton Wildcats overcame an ugly start to keep their Memorial Cup hopes alive on Wednesday.

The Wildcats were heavily outplayed in the first period but rebounded in the final 40 minutes for a 6-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic in round robin play. The win pushes Moncton into Friday's semifinal against the London Knights while Rimouski's season ends with the loss.

St. Andrews native Gabe Smith scored a pair of goals for Moncton while singles came from Julius Sumpf, Juraj Pekarcik, Etienne Morin and Alex Mercier. Mathis Rousseau made 32 saves in the win.

The Wildcats trailed 2-1 after the first period and were outshot 17-6. But Moncton turned things around in the second period, scoring twice to take a 3-2 lead into the third.

Morin put the Wildcats up 4-2 with a goal just 4:02 into the third. They secured the win with a pair of empty net goals late in the period.

It was a far from a perfect game for Moncton, but it was certainly a better showing and result than their 3-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Monday. The Wildcats were able to get their offense going, something they've struggled with at this tournament.

The Wildcats will look to carry this momentum into Friday's semifinal against the Knights, which will obviously be their biggest game of the season. The semifinal winner will play the Tigers in Sunday's championship game.

A few other news and notes...

  • The Tigers earned a bye to the final with a 3-1 win over the Knights on Tuesday. There will be no tie-breaker game this year.
  • The Oceanic finish the season without a championship. They fell in the QMJHL final to the Wildcats and were the first team eliminated in this tournament, finishing 0-3.
  • This was likely the final game of junior hockey for Eriks Mateiko. The former Saint John Sea Dogs captain and Washington Capitals prospect had one shot and was a -1 in this match. TSN's cameras showed him dealing with a hand injury in the first period.
  • This was Moncton's first Memorial Cup win since the 2006 semifinal game. They had lost six straight games.
  • In the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs, Joshua Roy had an assist in the Laval Rocket's 5-1 loss to the Charlotte Checkers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. The Rocket recalled Vincent Sevigny from the ECHL's Trois-Rivieres Lions but he did not play. Riley Bezeau did not play for the Checkers.
  • Speaking of the Lions, they've advanced to the ECHL's Kelly Cup Final where they'll face the Toledo Walleye. Nicolas Guay and the Lions defeated the Florida Everblades 6-0 on Tuesday to win the Eastern Conference final series in six games. Game 1 of the championship series takes place Saturday in Toledo.

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