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Oshawa Generals edge Rimouski Oceanic 4-3 at Memorial Cup

Flames prospect Hunter Smith scored the Generals' game-winner Saturday (Ghyslain Bergeron, The Canadian Press)
Flames prospect Hunter Smith scored the Generals' game-winner Saturday (Ghyslain Bergeron, The Canadian Press)

Hunter Smith made up for being in the penalty box when the Oshawa Generals gave up a third-period tying goal by mixing braininess and brute force to get the game-winner against the Rimouski Océanic.

On a solo sortie into the Océanic zone with 10:36 remaining in the Memorial Cup match at the Colisée, the 6-foot-6, 210 Smith intuited a mismatch against second-year defenceman Simon Bourque and lobbed a long shot on goalie Philippe Desrosiers. Smith swim-moved past the smaller Bourque and buried the rebound, putting Oshawa ahead for good.

A too many men on the ice penalty against Rimouski with 1:28 remaining helped the Generals run out the clock. Goalie Ken Appleby needed to make a shoulder save on Océanic scoring leader Alexis Loiseau in the final seconds.

 

The Generals next face the Quebec Remparts on Sunday in a matchup of 1-0 teams.

Smith's tally mooted an inspired Océanic comeback from both 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. The Calgary Flames second-rounder was off for tripping when Jan Kostalek levelled for Rimouski at 3:48 of the third.

Kostalek's equalizer came about via a neutral-zone steal by Rimouski's Frédérik Gauthier, who's often been on the receiving end of Toronto Maple Leafs' fans ire for being a NHL first-round pick who's not a goal scorer. Gauthier chased down Generals centre Michael McCarron to kick-start an odd-man rush. Kostalek, a Winnipeg Jets signing, scored off a drop pass from Christopher Clapperton.

In a matchup between two teams built for the long haul, the Generals' faceoff prowess was critical. Both Tobias Lindberg's icebreaker and Stephen Desrochers' late second-period go-ahead goal coming directly off draws.

With 1:27 left in an even second period, Vancouver Canucks prospect Cole Cassels outquicked Rimouski's William Couture and drew the puck to Desrochers, whose one-timed slapshot from the right point restored the Generals' advantage.

Desrochers is on a scoring splurge, relatively speaking, with four goals from the back end across Oshawa's past 10 games. The Toronto native had 10 in 66 regular-season games.

Oshawa, vying to become the first team from east of Toronto to win the OHL and Memorial Cup titles in the same season since the 1990 Generals of Eric Lindros fame, scored twice in the first 10 minutes. At 4:07, McCarron went forward off a draw and poked the puck to Lindberg, who beat goaltender Philippe Desrosiers stickside.

Five minutes after Lindberg's goal, New York Islanders first-rounder Michael Dal Colle scored a top-corner goal from the high slot after taking a drop pass from Matt Mistele.

The Generals recorded nine of the game's first 11 shots. However, Rimouski, a renowned counter-punching team, replied with goals 44 seconds apart in the opening frame. Tyler Boland redirected a point shot by Appleby at 15:26.

On the following shift, Océanic captain Alexis Loiseau stole the puck from Desrosiers deep in the Generals zone and quickly deked Appleby.

All six draft picks of Canadian NHL teams recorded a point during the game.

Rimouski and Kelowna, each 0-1, meet on Monday night. Rimouski is used to adversity after coming back from an 0-2 series deficit during the QMJHL final.

Buzzing The Net is hosting a livechat of all Memorial Cup games.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.