Hamilton tops Shawinigan in OT, advances to Memorial final

SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick (AP) — Jan Mysak scored 10:08 into overtime and the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Shawinigan Cataractes 4-3 Monday night, clinching a berth in the Memorial Cup final.

The semifinal round victory propels the Bulldogs into the championship game against the host Saint John Sea Dogs.

Artem Grushnikov, Mason McTavish and Logan Morrison scored in regulation for the Bulldogs, who went 16-3 in the playoffs to capture the Ontario Hockey League crown.

Mavrik Bourque, Olivier Nadeau and William Veillette scored for in regulation for the Cataractes, who set a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League record with seven overtime victories on the way to the President Cup title, their first in the franchise’s 53 years of existence.

Marco Costantini made 33 saves in goal for Hamilton. Antoine Coulombe stopped 39 of the 43 shots for Shawinigan.

In the preliminary round, the Cataractes used three power-play goals on seven chances to edge the Bulldogs 3-2.

Hamilton made significant changes in the rematch, allowing one power-play opportunity and outshooting Shawinigan 38-30 in regulation.

Shawinigan, the 2012 Memorial Cup champions, finished second in the preliminary round, advancing with wins over Edmonton and Hamilton before dropping a 5-3 decision to host Saint John in the final round-robin game.

Hamilton struggled early in the event, falling to Saint John and Shawinigan before recording a 4-2 victory over Edmonton in its final preliminary round game to clinch its semifinal berth.