RIMOUSKI — Ryder Ritchie scored twice and added an assist as the Medicine Hat Tigers won another close game at the Memorial Cup on Monday, this time edging the Moncton Wildcats 3-1.
The Western Hockey League champion Tigers, who opened the four-team tournament on Friday with a 5-4 win over the host Rimouski Oceanic, will play the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights on Tuesday in a battle of 2-and-0 teams. The winner advances to Sunday's championship game, while the loser will play in Friday's semifinal.
The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champion Wildcats, who got a third-period goal from Dyllan Gill on Monday, will play the Oceanic on Wednesday in a battle of 0-and-2 teams with a berth to the semifinals on the line. The Wildcats beat the Oceanic in six games in the best-of-seven QMJHL final.
Ritchie opened Monday's scoring with a goal at 4:24 of the first period. He made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 9:42 of the second period. Gill cut the deficit in half with a goal 31 seconds into the final period.
Gavin McKenna added an empty-net goal with seven seconds left in the game. The Wildcats, trying to score the equalizer, pulled their goalie but called for too many on the ice with 1:22 left in the third.
Ritchie, who has three goals in two Cup games, credited his linemates for making it easy for him.
"They're finding me and I'm just trying to put myself in good spots for them," said Ritchie. "It was a huge win for us, but we still need to clean up a few things going forward in this event."
Tigers' bench boss Willie Desjardins said Ritchie is easily playing his best hockey of the season and also praised the efforts of netminder Harrison Meneghin, who made 21 saves.
"He's (Meneghin) been solid throughout the year for us and certainly in the playoffs. And he's been very sharp in this tournament," said Desjardins.
The Tigers outshot the Wildcats 41-22, but had some difficulty beating Mathis Rousseau, who made 38 saves.
DOUBLE LOSS FOR THE MACDOUGALLS
About 20 minutes before the Wildcats faced the Tigers, Rimouski RCMP contacted Moncton GM Taylor MacDougall to let him know that his father-in-law (Pat Buckley) had a heart attack while golfing in Rimouski and died. Taylor relayed the devastating news to his father and Wildcats' head coach Gardiner MacDougall about five minutes before puck drop.
"So it's a devastating loss and certainly the hardest game I ever had to coach," said Gardiner during the post-game news conference. "Pat Buckley was an unbelievable sportsman, top-notch golfer and former university hockey player. He was a second father to my son Taylor … they bonded like no other. And obviously the hardest game I've ever had to coach. And obviously we had a really good opponent as well."
UP NEXT
London Knights (2-0) play the Medicine Hat Tigers (2-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
The Canadian Press
