A first round pick battle

Mavrik Bourque and the Shawinigan Cataractes defeated Dawson Mercer, Hendrix Lapierre and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens by the score of 5 to 3 on Sunday at the Center Georges-Vézina.

The three players, all selected in the first round of the National Hockey League (NHL) Draft Tuesday, were the main offensive artisans of their respective teams.

Bourque scored two goals in addition to amassing one assist. He was also the one who started the thrust of his team’s three goals in the third period, while the Cataractes trailed 3 to 2. He was helped by Olivier Nadeau who also obtained three points. .

In the camp of the local team, Lapierre was an accomplice on the three goals of his own, including that of Mercer, who also added an assist to his record. They were helped by Christophe Farmer, who rocked the ropes on two occasions.

Moreover, Bourque, Mercer and Lapierre respectively inherited the first three stars of the meeting.

A second productive period

In the only other game of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in Bathurst, the Titan took advantage of a fully offensive second period to win a 6-3 win from the Halifax Mooseheads.

The first six goals of the game were scored in the second period, four of which were by the Titan. The Mooseheads even got the two teams just one goal behind in the final third, but it was too much, a little too late.

Bennett MacArthur was the author of a hat trick for the home team. He scored two of his goals in the third period.