Cataractes clinch playoff berth at Memorial Cup
Hamilton Bulldogs now in a must-win situation against Oil Kings Friday night
SHAWINIGAN 3, HAMILTON 2
In a few years, Mason Mctavish, Xavier Bourgault and Mavrik Bourque will likely be facing each other in the NHL.
On Thursday, however, they were putting on a show at Harbour Station in Saint John at the 2022 Memorial Cup.
Bourgault and Bourque had a goal and two assists apiece for the Shawinigan Cataractes in a 3-2 win against Mctavish and the Hamilton Bulldogs. Mctavish had a goal for the Bulldogs, who have lost their first two games of the tournament. It was the first time since December that Hamilton has lost two straight.
Cataractes goaltender Antoine Coulombe made 38 saves in the win, while Marco Costantini turned away 33 shots for the Bulldogs.
With the win, the Cataractes moved into first place in the standings with six points from two wins.
The Bulldogs stayed in fourth place with two losses and need to defeat the Edmonton Oil Kings in their final round robin game Friday to stay in the tournament.
The Cataractes have clinched a spot in the next round and will face the host Saint John Sea Dogs for first place Saturday and an automatic trip to the final.
Mctavish, 19, selected third overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL draft, opened scoring on a two-man advantage five minutes into the game. He took a pass from defenceman Nathan Staios and one-timed a shot past Coulombe.
Bourgault tied the game 1-1 just less than 90 seconds on the power play, converting an outstanding cross-ice feed from Bourque.
An Edmonton Oilers first round pick, 22nd overall, in the 2021 draft, Bourgault returned the favour five minutes later on a twoman advantage.
Bourgault slid the puck across to Bourque off a clean faceoff win by Olivier Nadeau, and the Dallas Stars first round pick (30th overall) in 2020 hammered a one-time shot past Bulldogs goaltender Marco Costantini.
The Bulldogs tied the game 2-2 late in the second period when a point shot from Artem Grushnikov was tipped on the way to the net by Avery Hayes and redirected in past Coulombe.
The Cataractes thought they had retaken the lead 30 seconds later, when a point shot from defenceman Angus Booth was tipped in by Alexis Bonefon between the pads of Costantini.
The goal, however, was immediately waved off as Cataractes forward Daniel Agostino was ruled to have interfered with Costantini.
The play was reviewed and the call upheld as Agostino leaned on Costantini as the puck was heading toward the net.
The Cataractes took the lead seven minutes into the third period with another power play goal.
Bourque played a pass across to Nadeau, who tipped it in past Costantini.
The puck hit the stick of Bulldogs defenceman Arber Xhekaj on the way to Nadeau, which froze Costantini and he was unable to get across the net in time.
With a little less than nine minutes left in the period, Shawinigan came close to increasing the lead on a broken-up two-on-one rush as Pierrick Dube was able to sweep the puck toward the net past Costantini, but Staios was able to keep the puck out of the net.
The Bulldogs pushed for the tying goal, but were unable to beat Coulombe.
The Bulldogs lost their opening game of the tournament 5-3 to Saint John on Monday.
The Cataractes defeated the Oil Kings 4-3 in their first game Tuesday.
The top team after the round robin will advance to the final on Wednesday, while the second- and third-place teams will play in the semifinal Monday.