Quebec Remparts oust Rimouski Oceanic from Memorial Cup
On their fourth try, the Quebec Remparts finally eliminated the Rimouski Océanic.
Three of the Memorial Cup host team's heretofore misfiring finishers, Arizona Coyotes prospect Anthony Duclair and overages Jérome Verrier and Marc-Oliver Roy, broke protracted goal droughts as the Remparts briefly got the weight of the world off their shoulders with a 5-2 tiebreaker-game triumph over the Océanic in front of a Colisée crowd of 6,533. The win undid an embarrassing shutout loss at the just 24 hours that necessitated the first do-or-done game and gave Quebec payback for losing games 6 and 7 of the QMJHL final to the Océanic last week.
Adam Erne also scored a late second-period go-ahead goal after a ghastly giveaway behind the Océanic net by goalie Philippe Desrosiers, which cancelled out an equalizer just 46 seconds later. Montreal Canadiens goalie prospect Zach Fucale marked his 20th birthday by making 30 saves for the Remparts, including an early third-period glove save that prevented Rimouski from pulling to within a goal.
The win sets up a Remparts-Kelowna Rockets rematch in the semifinal on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT). Friday's winner meets the rested Oshawa Generals on championship Sunday.
The Remparts, who had a desultory effort on Wednesday, started much more promisingly and avoided the type of penalty problems that sank them during that 4-0 loss. Verrier got the icebreaker 17:19 in with his first goal in 15 games. New York Rangers prospect Ryan Graves, who reached the 2014 Memorial Cup semifinal with Val-d'Or, intercepted a clearing attempt inside the Rimouski blueline and stepped into a slapshot that Verrier redirected for a power-play tally.
Ryan Graves has a cannon of a shot, but Jérome Verrier puts the @quebec_remparts up 1-0 on the PP http://t.co/zZkm3QcSfz
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2015
Quebec is just 2-for-15 with the extra skater during the tournament.
Rimouski also levelled via a slapshot on the power-play when Philadelphia Flyers first-rounder Samuel Morin one-timed a shot over Fucale's shoulder 2:32 into the second.
Samuel Morin unleashed the puck to give the @oceanicrimouski a short-lived 1-1 tie #MCMemorialCup http://t.co/DH6IHpWrPz
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2015
Just 86 seconds later, Duclair completed a tic-tac-toe rush. Erne had a strong zone entry and led Kurt Etchegary with a pass. The overage captain drop-passed to Duclair, who buried on a top-shelf shot for his first goal in nine games.
Anthony Duclair restored the lead for the @quebec_remparts with his first #MCMemorialCup goal, 2-1 #Remparts http://t.co/WnIeHByaoR
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2015
That pattern — tying goal by Rimouski, rapid response from Quebec — repeated later in the frame. Quebec's Vladimir Tkachev turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the Océanic broke away, with François Beauchemin teeing up trailer Jérémy Lépine, who snapped the puck through Fucale's five-hole.
Tkachev saw little ice time after the giveaway.
It took all of 46 seconds for Quebec to seize on a critical blunder in kind. Desrosiers overhandled the puck after fielding a shoot-in, which led to a scramble that Erne finished off with a goal.
.@oceanicrimouski tie the game again, but Philippe Desrosiers gets caught and a misplay makes it 3-2 #Remparts http://t.co/Aqm95EXsuS
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2015
The Massimo Carrozza-Guillaume Gauthier-Verrier line came through again with 41 seconds left in the period, with Carrozza chipping the puck down the left-wing wall ahead to Gauthier, whose centring pass was tipped home by Verrier for his second of the evening.
No mistaking this time - Verrier gives the @quebec_remparts a 4-2 lead with his 2nd of the night #MCMemorialCup http://t.co/JQki5ZmQyp
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2015
Roy, whom the Edmonton Oilers have until Monday to sign, scored the sealer with 8:30 remaining. The 2013 second-rounder went into solo and jammed in the rebound for his first goal in nine games, dating to April 12.
Quebec beat Kelowna 4-3 in the tournament opener last Friday, but has played two games since the Rockets wrapped up their round-robin slate on Tuesday.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.