2022 President Cup Final | Game 1 Recap
The Shawinigan Cataractes have drawn first blood in the 2022 President Cup Final with a 5-1 triumph over the Islanders in Charlottetown in the opener of this best-of-seven championship series.
Xavier Bourgault, with a pair of goals, Pierrick Dube, Lou-Felix Denis and Mavrik Bourque each found the back of the net for the Cataractes, while Jordan Tourigny added three assists. Brett Budgell scored the lone goal for the Islanders, who lost for just the second time this postseason. Antoine Coulombe made 27 saves in the win while Francesco Lapenna stopped 24 shots in the loss.
The first period featured good pace and a 10-5 shots advantage for the home side. But it was the Cataractes who got on the board first at the 16:40 mark, when Dube rifled a wrist shot high to Lapenna’s blocker side for his ninth of the playoffs. Brett Budgell would tie things at 1-1 with just 35 seconds remaining in the first, picking up a rebound at the side of the net and depositing it past Coulombe for his 10th of the postseason to send the already energetic Eastlink Center crowd into a frenzy.
The Cataractes, not rattled by the late first period letdown, opened up a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes. Just under a minute and a half into the second frame, the visitors took the lead once again as Mavrik Bourque fed Bourgault with a perfect cross-ice feed on the powerplay. The 2021 Edmonton Oilers draftee would go on to double the Shawinigan lead by finishing off a pass from behind the net by Dube at the 9:47 mark, his ninth marker of the playoffs. Denis would make it a three-goal cushion just 71 seconds later, completing a two-on-one with Daniel Agostino for his second of the postseason. The Cataractes held an 11-8 edge in shots in the middle stanza.
Shawinigan would also hold the upper hand in shots, 13-10, in the final period while recording the frame’s lone goal. At the 14:27 mark, Bourque pulled the trigger on a one-timer on yet another powerplay, taking a pass from Jordan Tourigny after a clean faceoff win for his fifth of the postseason to close out the scoring.
The Islanders will be looking to even the series as early as tomorrow with another home game scheduled at 6PM ET/7PM AT. All games are viewable on CHL TV.
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