Wildcats take Game 1 of QMJHL final

Daniel St Louis/Moncton Wildcats

MONCTON - A dominant first period carried the Moncton Wildcats to a 5-2 victory over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in Game 1 of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final on Friday.

The Wildcats scored three times and outshot the Sagueneens 16-5 in the opening frame. That included Caleb Desnoyers scoring just 20 seconds in.

Desnoyers scored and assisted on Moncton's other two first period goals. Gabe Smith scored twice for Moncton while Niko Tournas and Preston Lounsbury also connected. Goaltender Rudy Guimond made 26 saves in the win.

Wildcats defenseman Max Vilen is the lone former Saint John Sea Dog playing in the series. He took a puck to the ear late in the second period but would be okay. He finished the game a +3 with two shots.

The Sags improved in the final two minutes and certainly made the game tighter. It looked as though they may have tied it early in the third period but the goal was immediately waived off – and was again after a review – for goaltender interference.

Mavrick Lachance and Christophe Berthelot scored for Chicoutimi. Goaltender Lucas Beckman made 31 saves in the loss.

Moncton now leads the best-of-seven championship series 1-0. Game 2 of the series takes place Saturday night at Avenir Centre.

A few other news and notes...

• This was Chicoutimi's first game in a QMJHL final since 1997.
• Fair to say it was a disappointing crowd for Game 1 of the QMJHL final. Announced attendance was 6,164 – but the atmosphere was still quite good. The Wildcats had 7,530 in attendance for Game 7 on Tuesday night.
• In the OHL final, the Barrie Colts and Kitchener Rangers were tied 3-3 in overtime at the time of this writing. The Rangers entered the game with a 1-0 series lead.
• The WHL final between the Everett Silvertips and Prince Albert Raiders was set to begin late Friday night.
• At the Centennial Cup in Summerside, the Western Capitals dropped their tournament opener on Thursday, falling 5-4 in overtime to Manitoba's Niverville Nighthawks. Former Sea Dogs defenseman Matthew MacLean was held pointless. Summerside faces the Rockland Nationals of the CCHL on Saturday.