Memorial Cup: A second loss for the Saguenéens
The Chicoutimi Saguenéens got off to a strong start, but ultimately fell 3-2 to the Kitchener Rangers on Tuesday at the Memorial Cup.
The Saguenéens therefore conclude the preliminary round with a record of one win and two losses. They will now await the result of Wednesday’s game between the Everett Silvertips (1-1) and the Kelowna Rockets (0-2) before learning their fate.
Two scenarios remain possible for the Sags: playing in the tiebreaker game on Thursday, or advancing directly to the semifinal on Friday.
As for the Rangers, they have already secured a spot in Sunday’s final thanks to their perfect 3-0 record.
The Saguenéens played an excellent first period, limiting the Ontario Hockey League champions to just five shots on Lucas Beckman.
However, Kitchener came out flying in the second period, scoring twice in 3:37. Luca Romano opened the scoring at 1:38, and two minutes later, Sam O’Reilly pounced on a rebound from Jack Pridham to make it 2-0.
Émile Ricard cut the deficit in half at 8:38, with assists from Nathan Lecompte and Christophe Berthelot.
The O’Reilly-Pridham duo struck again just 21 seconds into the third period. O’Reilly fed Dylan Edwards, who found Pridham, whose slapshot sent the cap flying off Beckman’s water bottle positioned behind the netminder.
Then, at 8:44, Jordan Tourigny received a five-minute major and was ejected from the game for kicking Christian Humphreys while the two were battling for the puck along the boards. The Rangers were unable to capitalize on the ensuing power play.
Mavrick Lachance brought the Sags within 3-2 with 3:54 remaining, but it was too little, too late.
