Hold on to your hats, folks; the Rimouski Océanic isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Riding a pair of timely goals in a very tight-checking contest, not to mention the superb goaltending of Mathis Langevin, this year’s Memorial Cup hosts have come back from being down three games to none in the 2025 Gilles-Courteau Trophy Final to force game six following a 3-1 triumph over the Moncton Wildcats this evening.
This marks the first time all year the Cats have suffered back-to-back defeats. This also represents the first time in league history in which a team has forced a game six in a championship series after losing the first three contests.
Jacob Mathieu, with a pair, and Maël Lavigne scored for Rimouski, who received a 33-save effort from Langevin, who was a worthy choice as first star of the contest. Preston Lounsbury countered for Moncton while Mathis Rousseau was solid despite the defeat, kicking aside 20 shots.
The first period featured an equal number of shots (12-12) and goals (1-1). After a few close calls at both ends of the ice, it was the Océanic that found the back of the net first. Dominic Pilote’s initial shot was kicked away by Rousseau. However, the rebound came out to Mathieu, who deflected the puck home at 15:05. Just over three minutes later, Moncton would tie things up on yet another rebound when Gabe Smith’s initial shot was stopped by Langevin. Lounsbury quickly pounced on the second chance in the high slot and buried his eighth goal of the postseason on a snap shot past the shoulder of the Rimouski goalkeeper.
Though the shots were 12-7 Moncton in the second frame, it would be the visitors who registered the lone goal of the period. Rimouski regained the lead at 9:05, when Lavigne collected the puck off a clean faceoff win in the offensive zone, stepped up and fired a bullet wrist shot past Rousseau for his ninth of the playoffs.
The third period was spent predominantly in Rimouski territory, with the Océanic protecting goaltender Langevin and the netminder himself steering aside a few quality scoring chances. Mathieu’s 16th of the playoffs, into an empty net at 18:41, sealed the victory for the visitors while also handing the Cats their first home ice loss in almost four months. It was a rare occurrence where neither team was awarded a power play, the lone penalties handed out over a skirmish after the final buzzer.
The Océanic will look to move one step closer to history on Monday afternoon in Rimouski. The puck drops at 1pm ET/2pm AT and will be available on TSN, RDS and CHL TV.
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