Rimouski staves off elimination with Game 4 win
The Moncton Wildcats learned the hard way that the fourth game is the hardest to win in a best-of-seven series. The Rimouski Océanic delivered this message at home in a 5-1 triumph during game four of the 2025 Gilles-Courteau Trophy Final tonight. Despite the setback, the Cats hold a three games to one advantage in the series.
Maël Lavigne, Maxime Coursol, Maël St-Denis, Jonathan Fauchon and Eriks Mateiko scored for Rimouski. Alexandre Blais produced three first-period assists while defensemen Pier-Olivier Roy and Jack Martin each chipped in with a pair of helpers. Between the pipes, Mathis Langevin was steady for the Océanic, making 29 saves. Julius Sumpf scored the lone goal for the Wildcats.
Goaltender Rudy Guimond got the start for Moncton but was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots to start the game. He would return to the crease for the third period however, stopping all five shots he faced. Mathis Rousseau provided relief in between, stopping 25 of 27 shots. For Guimond, it was the first loss of his QMJHL career, which ended a remarkable 24-0 stretch.
The Océanic brought the crowd to its feet early and often, surging ahead 4-0 after 20 minutes. For the first time in this series, the Océanic opened the scoring. After working the puck down low, Lavigne scored on a wraparound shot for his eighth of the playoffs just 64 seconds in. Rimouski would quickly double its lead on the man advantage at 4:20, when Lavigne sent a cross-crease pass on the rush to Coursol who made no mistake into the yawning cage for his sixth of the postseason. The home side wouldn’t let up, as St-Denis would sneak behind the Wildcats defense corps to reel in a pass from Blais and beat Guimond with a low shot at 7:08 for his third. Shortly thereafter, Guimond was pulled in favour of Rousseau. At 18:15, Fauchon would make it a 4-0 game on the Océanic’s fifth power play of the period, depositing a rebound past Rousseau for his sixth of the postseason. Rimouski’s 23-7 shots advantage told the tale of the one-sided period.
The second frame saw both teams trade chances but the Océanic still holding an edge in play as indicated by its 12-7 shots advantage. Mateiko would provide the lone goal of the frame to extend Rimouski’s lead, solving Rousseau with a wrister on the rush with just 50 seconds remaining in the period. The Cats found some life in the third period, outshooting the Océanic 16-5 and breaking the shutout on the power play with 3:02 remaining as Sumpf stuffed the puck past Langevin for his tenth of the playoffs.
The two teams will renew acquaintances on Saturday night with the Cats aiming to earn their third league title on home ice. The puck drops at 6pm ET/7pm AT and will be available on TSN, RDS and CHL TV.
