Bulldogs beat Cataractes in OT semifinal thriller, advance to Memorial Cup final
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Jan Mysak of the Hamilton Bulldogs picked the right time to attain his first objective of the 2022 Memorial Cup.
The 20-year-old native of Litvinov, Czechia, expertly tipped defenceman Nathan Staios’ level shot previous goaltender Antoine Coulombe 10:08 into time beyond regulation to carry the Bulldogs previous the Shawinigan Cataractes 4-3 and into Wednesday’s Memorial Cup closing.
“I used to be ready for that and I picked the precise second,” mentioned Mysak, chosen forty eighth general by the Montreal Canadiens within the 2020 NHL entry draft. “We’re actually completely happy we are able to play within the closing and we’re actually excited.”
Artem Grushnikov, Mason McTavish and Logan Morrison scored in regulation for the Bulldogs, who went 16-3 within the playoffs to seize the Ontario Hockey League crown, defeating the Windsor Spitfires in a spirited seven-game championship collection.
Morrison, the OHL playoff’s MVP, tied the sport with 6:04 remaining in regulation when he drifted into the slot and drilled a fast feed from Ryan Winterton previous Coulombe.
“He says ‘Wints, Wints, I’m open’. So you need to discover guys like that when they’re open,” mentioned Winterton, who picked up a pair of assists and was plus-3 on the night time.
The dramatic semifinal featured large hits, excellent goaltending and the well timed tip from Mysak to propel the Bulldogs into the franchise’s first Memorial Cup closing. They will face the host Saint John Sea Canines who beat them 5-3 to open the match on June 20.
On the successful objective Monday, Staios gained management of the puck within the Shawinigan zone, circled the online after which skated again to the blue line earlier than he fired a shot towards the objective, the place Mysak broke free to get his stick on the puck for the winner.
“If you wish to rating a objective, you want a internet entrance (presence),” Mysak mentioned. “The entire sport, we knew they have been arduous across the internet, so I simply tried to spin round to create an area for me to display screen the goalie. I knew he was going to shoot it when he had the puck on his stick and when he picked the precise second, I picked the precise second.”
Mavrik Bourque, Olivier Nadeau and William Veillette scored for Shawinigan, who set a Quebec Main Junior Hockey League report with seven time beyond regulation victories within the playoffs en path to the President Cup title, their first within the franchise’s 53 years of existence.
“It has been an ideal 12 months,” mentioned Shawinigan coach Daniel Renaud. “Backside line, we’re champions. That’s the message to the gamers — ‘Preserve your heads-up, be pleased with your self, be pleased with your group. It has been a hell of a 12 months and you may be champions eternally, it doesn’t matter what.'”
Marco Costantini made 33 saves in objective for Hamilton whereas Coulombe stopped 39 of the 43 photographs he confronted.
Within the preliminary spherical, the Cataractes used three power-play objectives on seven probabilities to edge the Bulldogs 3-2.
Hamilton made vital modifications to their strategy for Monday’s sport, permitting only one power-play alternative whereas outshooting Shawinigan 38-30 in regulation time.
“It was a degree of focus for certain,” mentioned Hamilton coach Jay McKee. “Their energy play is incredible, we made some changes in what we did and I believed we did a superb job with the one kill. If we have been going to win the sport tonight, we needed to keep out of the field.”
In an evenly performed first interval, every group hit a publish early on and the photographs have been tight, as Hamilton led 9-8 in that division.
Bourque opened scoring when he redirected a Nadeau feed previous Costantini at 14:39. Nadeau gained management of a free puck within the left nook, and hit Bourque, whose shot discovered the online beneath Costantini’s glove.
Grushnikov tied it lower than two minutes later when he joined the push on a 4-on-4 state of affairs and completed off a slick move from the precise wing by McTavish at 16:29.
The play opened up within the second interval and the scoring probabilities elevated in consequence.
McTavish put Hamilton forward 1:23 into the second interval, when his snap shot beat Coulombe simply seconds after one in every of their power-play alternatives had expired.
Nadeau introduced the Cataractes again as soon as extra, when he tipped Isaac Menard’s level shot previous Costantini at 5:49. The tip got here on a excessive shot that led to a video evaluate however was shortly confirmed.
From there, the goaltenders took over as Coulombe made 17 saves within the second interval and Costantini was equally sharp as he blocked 14 Cataractes choices.
That set the stage for the tense and thrilling third interval.
The Bulldogs appeared to have taken a 3-2 lead with 12:27 remaining in regulation as Avery Hayes swatted a move from behind the online that trickled via Coulombe and over the objective line. Nevertheless, it didn’t depend because the official blew the play down earlier than it crossed the road, a name that stood after a prolonged evaluate.
Simply 2:28 later, Vermette reached out and tipped an Angus Sales space wrist shot excessive into the highest nook previous Constantini at 10:01.
This time, it was the Bulldogs who responded in fast trend as Morrison drifted into the slot and one-timed a feed from Winterton at 13:56.
Shawinigan, the 2012 Memorial Cup champions, completed second within the preliminary spherical, advancing with wins over Edmonton and Hamilton earlier than dropping a 5-3 contest to the host Sea Canines within the closing round-robin sport.
Hamilton struggled early within the occasion, falling to Saint John and Shawinigan earlier than recording a 4-2 victory over Edmonton in its closing preliminary spherical sport to clinch its semifinal berth.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed June 27, 2022
Kevin Barrett, The Canadian Press
