2022 President Cup Final | Game 3 Recap
The Shawinigan Cataractes are just one win away from their first-ever President Cup title.
Charles Beaudoin’s first goal of the playoffs at the 46 second mark of overtime, a centering feed that was redirected off an opponent’s stick, was the difference-maker in the Cataractes’ 5-4 triumph over the Charlottetown Islanders before a raucous crowd at the Centre Gervais Auto.
It was an entertaining, back and forth contest that ended with the Isles holding a 36-21 edge in shots. Xavier Bourgault, with a pair, Isaac Menard and Mavrik Bourque scored the other goals for the Cataractes, while Olivier Nadeau registered three assists.
Patrick Guay, who also scored twice, Lukas Cormier and Jakub Brabenec replied for the Islanders. Cormier would add two assists to his point total as well. Antoine Coulombe stopped 32 shots in the win while Francesco Lapenna made 16 saves in the loss.
The Islanders came out firing, outshooting the Cataractes 17-2 to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room after the first period. Brabenec would start the scoring at the 4:01 mark, tipping a Cormier point shot past Coulombe for his second of the playoffs.
Exactly 48 seconds later, the Cataractes struck back. Bourgault gave a tremendous effort to advance the puck through the neutral zone to a streaking Olivier Nadeau before jumping back into the play and firing Nadeau’s return feed past Lapenna.
The Isles would close out the first period scoring when Cormier received a centering pass from Brett Budgell, snapped a shot from the high slot and restored the Charlottetown lead with his seventh tally of the playoffs at the 13:57 mark.
The Islanders again held the edge in shots, 13-9, in the middle stanza. This time, another flurry of offensive activity would see the visitors take a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes. It would be the Cataractes that held court early on, however. First it was Bourgault, lifting a backhand past Lapenna for his 12th of the postseason at 1:54. Shawinigan would capture a 3-2 lead at the 6:17 mark when Menard snuck in from the point and fired a shot home for his second of the playoffs.
The Islanders would storm back by the end of the period thanks to their leading goal scorer. Guay would be on the doorstop to redirect a Cormier wrister at 15:01, before batting a puck out of mid-air past Coulombe for his 12th of the playoffs with just over two minutes remaining in the frame.
Shawinigan outshot the Islanders 9-6 in the third and, once again, its top line would come up with the goal that sent the two clubs to overtime for the second straight game. Bourque would convert from the slot off a fantastic centering feed from Nadeau for his eighth of the postseason at the 7:11 mark.
This paved the way for Beaudoin’s unconventional game-winner.
The Cataractes will go for the series sweep tomorrow night in Game 4. The action gets underway from Shawinigan at 7pm ET/8pm AT. All games are viewable on CHL TV.
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