Cats and Dogs tied 1-1 as series shifts to Saint John
SHAWINIGAN, Que. – An old rivalry was renewed when the semi-finals of the 2016 QMJHL Presidents Cup playoffs began Friday night. Many still remember when it started with the Cataractes winning the bid to host the 2012 Mastercard Memorial Cup over the Sea Dogs, leaving the Saint John fans in anger. Ever since, these two teams have had a rivalry and it was only about to get better as they would faceoff in this third-round series.
Game one of the best-of-seven series was a true battle with both sides trading leads all night long. Alex Pawelczyuk and Anthony Beauvillier scored in the first period on Friday for the Cataractes while Sam Povorozniouk responded for Saint John making it a 2-1 lead for the home team after one period of play.
In the second period the Sea Dogs took control with goals from Daniel Del Paggio, Joe Veleno, and Samuel Dove-McFalls to take a 4-3 lead through 40 minutes. Dmytro Timashov added the lone Cataractes goal in the frame.
Dennis Yan and Gabriel Gagne scored in the third period to put Shawinigan back in front, 5-4. However Spencer Smallman would tie the game with under five minutes to play and we would eventually need overtime to decide a winner.
It took Matthew Highmore all of 46 seconds of the extra frame to beat Philippe Cadorette and give the Sea Dogs a 6-5 win. They would also take the series lead 1-0.
Saturday night the two teams met again at Centre Gervais Auto for game two. This time the story was much different as the Cataractes hastely dispatched of the Sea Dogs to tie the series.
D’Aoust and Gignac found the back of the net in the first period, then Yan and Beauvillier each potted goals in the middle frame. Matthew Highmore’s powerplay goal got Saint John on the board, but the Cataractes lead 4-1 after 40 minutes of play.
In the third period the game was completely taken over by Shawinigan as Beauvillier, Yan, and Silvestre all scored goals on the man advantage. That would account for a 7-1 final scored with Cadorette making 26 saves in the contest helping his team to even the series 1-1.
Games three and four will be in Saint John on Tuesday and Wednesday. Puck drop at Harbour Station for both games is 6pm EST/7pm Atlantic.
