QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. —With a great deal of pressure on opening night of the 94th Mastercard Memorial Cup tournament, Shawinigan came up short at the end of the opening game of the 2012 Memorial Cup tournament losing 4- 3 in a highly entertaining opening game.
With the score been tied 1-1 after forty minutes of play, fans were in for an exciting third period of play. After seeing Edmonton taking a two-goal lead, the fans saw the Cataractes come back tying the game on controversial goal, the second of the night by Michael Chaput.
But a second turnover inside 23 seconds this one in favor of visiting team saw the Edmonton Oil Kings come out on top, scoring game winning goal with 6:00 remaining to the game.
Entering the Memorial Cup as the host team Shawinigan has much to prove to skeptics who they thought they did not belong. Shawinigan can compete with the three other teams participating in the tournament starting with Friday night game against Edmonton Oil Kings.
Edmonton, London and Saint John come here as their respective league champions. Bowing out in the second round in QMJHL playoff didn’t help Shawinigan as far as people believing the Cataractes don’t belong in the tournament.
“We deserve some of it,” said defenseman Brandon Gormley to QMI agency before the tournament began in reference of skepticism. “We didn’t step up to the plate in the playoff. We have a lot left to prove to ourselves.”
“We are going to be the underdogs,” said Cataractes defenseman Norman Ellis who ended 2011-12 campaign with 52 points in 62 games to the QMI agency.
“They are three champions and we are the host team, but we have skill guys up front and on the back end and our goalies are good. We are a good team and we can to compete with any of these guys.”
Fired up by the crowd in the Bionest center, Shawinigan tried to dictate the tempo of the game putting pressure and hits every Edmonton players they can in a very physical first period.
But as often happens when a team misses a great scoring opportunity on one side of the ice with Shawinigan left winger Pierre-Olivier Morin missed the net, the other team scored at the other end. That’s exactly what happened.
After Cataractes forward Morin missed the net, Edmonton opened the scoring on their first scoring chance of the game. A two-on-one near Shawinigan netminder saw Kristians Pelss redirected an easy pass from Michael St. Croix 2:41 into the opening period stunning the crowd.
With Oil Kings defenseman Mark Pysyk in the box, Michael Chaput took a rebound from defenseman Brandon Gormley and giving no chance to Edmonton goalie Laurent Brossoit. Chaput’s shot from the slot went behind the Surrey native netminder at 8:36 for his first goal of the night.
Both goaltenders needed to make great saves in first period with the Oil Kings goalie being the most occupied with 13 saves on Shawinigan 14 shots on goal compared to four saves for Alex Dubeau on Edmonton 5 shots, the second periods saw Edmonton and Shawinigan shots five times on each goaltenders.
Shawinigan ended the period on a stronger note with four great scoring opportunities at the buzzer. Morgan Ellis for one took two great shots on net but siren sound had been heard indicating the end of middle frame.
Unable to make a play, Oil Kings defenseman Griffin Reinhart took a shot on net that surprised Shawinigan goalie on Dubeau’s glove side with just 1:01 gone in third period giving Oil Kings a 2-1 lead.
Martin Gernat scored Edmonton third goal tipping in the shot by Martin Pysyk at 5:40.
Shawinigan came back 57 seconds later scoring their second goal. Making initial save on Loik Poudier shot, Anton Zlobin was credited of Cataractes second goal at 6:37 after referee reviewing the play because he thought the puck had been crossed the red line after the whistle. But after reviewing the play upstairs the goal was allowed to Zlobin.
Turnovers proved to be costly for both teams in next two goals. First, the Cataractes tied the game at three goals-a-piece on Chaput’s second goal of the game at 13:19. Losing the puck at his own blue line Pysyk the Oil Kings saw Chaput’s shot through traffic beat Oil Kings netminder bringing both teams back to square one.
Taking advantage of a give away Edmonton came right back 23 seconds later regaining the lead 4-3 with 6:00 remaining to the third periods. Henrik Samuelsson shot seemed to give no chance to Shawinigan netminder who saw the puck went behind him for Oil Kings game winning goal.
Next Game will be Saturday between the QMJHL champions and defending Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs and London Knights the Ontario Hockey League champion.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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