SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick – William Dufour scored four goals in a period of 19 minutes and 55 seconds and host Saint John Sea Dogs advanced to the Memorial Cup championship match, defeating Major League Junior Junior d Quebec Hockey, Shawinigan Cataracts, 5-3. Saturday.
“To finish mine [junior] a race like this is so big, “Dufour said.” We have one more game to win. We’re just going to do it. “
QMJHL champion Shawinigan will face Ontario Hockey League winner Hamilton on Monday night in the semifinals, and the winner will advance to face Saint John in the final Wednesday at the night.
Dufour cleared Shawinigan’s 3-0 lead with a natural hat trick in the second, scoring at 2:02, 2:23 and 8:38. Jeremie Poirier gave the Sea Dogs the lead in a power play with 5:48 by the end of the period, and Dufour hit again in 1:57 of the third.
The 6-foot Dufour 3, selected in the fifth round of the NHL 2020 draft by the New York Islanders, was the QMJHL MVP this season after scoring 56 goals and finishing with 116 points the regular season.
Loris Rafanomezantsoa opened the scoring for Shawinigan in the 49th second, Olivier Nadeau made it 2-0 with 5:27 from the end of the period and William Veillette connected with 43 seconds from the end.
Nikolas Hurtubise made 26 stops for Saint John. The Sea Dogs had two wins and one loss in overtime in the round game.
Canceled in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event features the winners of the three major youth leagues and the host team.