Xavier Bourgault ended the debate in overtime on Sunday and the Shawinigan Cataractes snatched a 4-3 victory over the Islanders in Charlottetown in Game 2 of the President Cup final.
From the third minute of the fourth period, Bourgault completed the maneuver of Mavrik Bourque and Olivier Nadeau to give his team the win. This was his third overtime goal since the playoffs began.
The Cataractes are unbeaten in five overtime games in this spring tournament. They took control 2-0 in the President’s Cup final. The third matchup will take place on Wednesday in Shawinigan.
The Cataractes thought they needed to go home with a 1-1 tie, but Pierrick Dubé forced overtime with just six seconds left in the third period.
Bourque twice threaded the needle for Cataractes, while Charles-Antoine Lavallée saved 35 of the 38 pucks focused on him.
Lukas Cormier hit the red light twice for the Islanders and Dawson Stairs added a goal. Francesco Lapenna made 18 saves.
Cataractes opened the scoring with their first shot of the game. In power play, Bourque’s pass was almost intercepted, but the offense remained alive in Islanders territory.
The Dallas Stars first-round pick then received a cross pass from Bourgault, before beating Lapenna by a wrist shot in the top corner.
The Islanders resolved the Lavallée conundrum in the middle of the second period. A Simoneau shot was blocked by a Cataractes player, then the puck hit the bay window, before returning to the right of the net. Cormier quickly approached and sent the puck into the net.
In less than two minutes, the cost of indiscipline in Cataractes is expensive. Again, Cormier acted. The Vegas Golden Knights third-round pick received a pass from Simoneau, before unleashing a powerful one-timer that was not stopped by Lavallée.
Shawinigan’s formation did not delay the third stage. Defender Isaac Ménard made a nice breakthrough in the enemy zone and killed himself to try the pass. The puck landed on the blade of Bourque’s stick, not missing the opportunity.
The Islanders thought they had done enough to win when the Stairs deflected a shot from Noah Laaouan to give them a 3-2 lead with 77 seconds left in the game, but a penalty to Simoneau in the face-off hindered their plans. Dubé took the opportunity to send both teams into overtime.
Source: Radio-Canada
