Cornforth carries Cats over Dogs in Playoff opener
Gavin Cornforth’s hat trick propelled the Moncton Wildcats to a 5-1 victory Saint John to open their best-of-seven first round QMJHL Playoff series.
The Sea Dogs owned a 1-0 first period lead before the defending league champion Wildcats scored three second period tallies to pull away. Teddy Mutryn scored and set up two others for a 3-point game, Gabe Smith chipped in with a goal and assist.
The Cats scored twice on the powerplay and peppered Rafael Courchesne with 50 shots. Rudy Guimond made 16 saves backstopping the Cats. In a pre-game ceremony, the Cats were presented the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as repeat regular season champions — only the 9th team in QMJHL history to accomplish that feat.
THREE STARS:
⭐️ #92 GAVIN CORNFORTH (3G)
⭐️⭐️ #14 TEDDY MUTRYN (1G,2A)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ #9 GABE SMITH (1G,1A)
Game two will be played Saturday night at 7pm at Avenir Centre before moving to TD Station Tuesday & Wednesday for Games #3 & #4.
Follow the Wildcats ‘March to the Memorial Cup’ on Flohockey TV and Wildcats Radio network- INSPIRE 105.1 FM Moncton-Dieppe-Riverview.
[BOX SCORE]
Article by Marty Kingston
Photo: Daniel St. Louis
