Wildcats, Oceanic both down 0-2

Vincent Éthier / CHL

The road to a Memorial Cup title for the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League has gotten more challenging.

The Moncton Wildcats fell 3-1 to the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers on Monday night, falling to 0-2 at this year's tournament. The Rimouski Oceanic, meanwhile, are also 0-2 following a 3-1 loss to the OHL champion London Knights on Sunday.

The results of the past two days mean no tiebreaker game will be required this year. Here's how the next couple days will play out:

• The winner of Tuesday's London/Medicine Hat game will earn a bye to Sunday's championship game.
• The loser of Tuesday's London/Medicine Hat game will secure a spot in Friday's semifinal game.
• The winner of Wednesday's Rimouski/Moncton game will earn a spot in a Friday's semifinal game.
• The loser of Wednesday's Rimouski/Moncton game will be eliminated.

On Monday, the Wildcats, once again, just couldn't get things clicking properly. After a fairly 50-50 first period, Medicine Hat outshot Moncton 17-6 in the second and carried a 2-0 lead into the third. The Wildcats scored early in the third to get within one but some ill-timed penalties essentially erased any chance of a Moncton comeback.

The Wildcats have scored just three goals so far at the Memorial Cup and all have been from defensemen.

Moncton has now lost six straight games at the Memorial Cup with their last win coming in the 2006 semifinal game. They'll look to snap this skid with their season on the line on Wednesday.

A couple other news and notes...

• Former Saint John Sea Dogs captain Eriks Mateiko scored Rimouski's lone goal in their 3-1 loss to the Knights on Sunday.

  ERIKS MATEIKO OPENS THE SCORING 🇱🇻🚨
  
  1-0 Rimouski. pic.twitter.com/vaxVB5mPkB

  — TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 25, 2025

• William Dufour and the Colorado Eagles had their season come to an end on Monday with a 5-0 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks. Dufour appeared in just one playoff game for the Eagles. The Canucks will face the Texas Stars in the AHL's Western Conference final.
• The AHL's Eastern Conference final will feature Riley Bezeau and the Charlotte Checkers taking on Joshua Roy and the Laval Rocket. That series begins Wednesday in Laval.
• In the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs, Game 6 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final between the Trois-Rivieres Lions and the Florida Everblades takes place Tuesday. Nicolas Guay, Vincent Sevigny and the Lions lead the series 3-2.