Rousseau Stops 45 as Wildcats Fall to London in OT
May 24, 2025 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Moncton Wildcats News Release
Sam O'Reilly (EDM) scored the overtime winner as the London Knights began its 2025 Memorial Cup campaign with a 3-2 win over the Moncton Wildcats in Rimouski, QC.
O'Reilly buried the game-winner at 4:23 of overtime as after Easton Cowan (TOR) spun around Moncton's Caleb Desnoyers, he found the Oilers prospect to the right side of Rousseau where he tipped the puck high for his second of the night.
"I just try to get to the net," O'Reilly said. "[Cowan] does all of his creative stuff up top. It's always the best place to go is to the net, he throws pucks there a lot and fortunate enough to be able to score one."
O'Reilly also scored in regulation - as did Kasper Halttunen (SJ) - while Austin Elliott stopped 27 shots. Etienne Morin (CGY) and Dyllan Gill (TB) had goals for Moncton as Mathis Rousseau made 45 saves.
The win also saw London's Dale Hunter tie the Memorial Cup record for most wins by a head coach with 14 alongside Don Hay.
London - runners up in 2024 - needed all of 91 seconds to strike as O'Reilly got a piece of Sam Dickinson's (SJ) point shot to grab an early 1-0 lead. But Moncton battled back to level things up at the first intermission as Etienne Morin's (CGY) shot from the blue line hit London defenceman Jared Woolley (LA) to change directions and beat Elliott at 6:59.
The Knights restored their lead at 5:11 of the second through Halttunen who unloaded a one-timer on the power play to register his fifth career Memorial Cup goal. In the process, the Finn tied the Memorial Cup record for the longest goalscoring streak in tournament history at five games alongside Portland's Ty Rattie.
However, once again the Wildcats found the tying goal in the period as it was Gill's time to convert on the man advantage as his shot from the blue line beat Elliott.
After a goalless third - that saw London outshot Moncton 16-3 - it was O'Reilly who played hero at night's end.
"They're good players and they want to win really bad," Hunter said. "They play hard and when the big games are on the line they come through."
London is back in action Sunday when they face Rimouski while the Wildcats will battle Medicine Hat Monday night.
Scheduled from May 22 - June 1 in Rimouski, Québec, every game of the 2025 Memorial Cup will air on TSN and RDS in Canada and be available via live stream on TSN.ca, the TSN app, RDS.ca, and the RDS app. In addition to full coverage in Canada on TSN and RDS, the 2025 Memorial Cup will be available to stream live for free on Victory+ for viewers outside of Canada.
2025 Memorial Cup schedule:
May 23 - Game 1: Medicine Hat 5-4 Rimouski
May 24 - Game 2: Moncton 2-3 London (OT)
May 25 - Game 3: Rimouski vs. London - 6:00pm ET
May 26 - Game 4: Moncton vs. Medicine Hat - 7:00pm ET
May 27 - Game 5: London vs. Medicine Hat - 7:00pm ET
May 28 - Game 6: Rimouski vs. Moncton - 7:00pm ET
May 29 - Tie-breaker (if necessary) - 7:00pm ET
May 30 - Semi-final - 7:00pm ET
June 1 - Final - 7:00pm ET
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from May 24, 2025
- Rousseau Stops 45 as Wildcats Fall to London in OT - Moncton Wildcats
- 2025 Memorial Cup Preview - Wildcats vs. Knights - May 24 - Moncton Wildcats
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