The final stage of the Canadian major junior hockey season kicked off on Friday night in Rimouski, Quebec, as the host Rimouski Oceanic began the 2025 Memorial Cup against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

In a game that was filled with lead changes – and goals – Medicine Hat rallied back to beat Rimouski by a 5-4 score.

Ryder Ritchie opened the scoring for Medicine Hat 13:50 into the first period, making it 1-0 Tigers.

But Rimouski scored late in the period on a power play, with Mael Lavigne scoring on a redirect at 19:40 of the first to tie the game at 1-1. Midway through the second frame the Oceanic grabbed a 2-1 lead, after Mael St-Denis scored off a Medicine Hat turnover.

But the Tigers answered back as the second period began to wind down, with Bryce Pickford scored for the ninth consecutive game, converting on a power play to even things up at 2-2 at 16:18 of the second.

But a couple minutes later, on an Oceanic power play, Rimouski retook the lead, with Jacob Mathieu scoring at 18:26 of the second to make it 3-2 Rimouski through two periods.

The Tigers rallied back in the third, though, picking their spots early in the period. At 1:08, Pickford scored his second of the game to tie things up at 3-3. At 5:16, Gavin McKenna scored on a breakaway to give Medicine Hat a 4-3 lead.

Midway through the third, Rimouski tied things up (again), with Jonathan Fauchon scoring on a power play to make it 4-4.

But the Tigers got a late one to decide it, as Hunter St. Martin scored on a net-front redirect at 17:19 of the third period to give Medicine Hat a 5-4 lead, and they held on for the victory.

The longest either team had a lead continuously in this game was eight minutes. Things kept swinging back and forth all game. Medicine Hat went 1-for-3 on the power play, scoring four of their goals at even strength. Meanwhile, the Oceanic went 3-for-4 on the power play, with just a single goal being scored by them at five-on-five.

Flames prospect Andrew Basha suited up for his sixth game of the post-season, skating on Medicine Hat’s second line with Mathew Ward and Hunter St. Martin. His “usual” centre, Columbus prospect Cayden Lindstrom, was scratched – Lindstrom recently returned from a 13-month injury absence, and it seems likely that the Tigers and Blue Jackets are carefully monitoring his usage during the post-season.

Basha was credited with a shot and had a plus-1 rating. He hit the scoresheet via a roughing minor in the third period after Rimouski’s Mael St-Denis snowed Tigers goalie Harrison Meneghin. St-Denis was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor on the play. (Medicine Hat was upset after Meneghin took a stick to the groin area during a goal-mouth scramble during the first period and were understandably protective of him for the rest of the game.)

The round robin continues on Saturday as Etienne Morin and the Moncton Wildcats face the London Knights. The Tigers are back in action on Monday when they face Moncton.

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