Rimouski wins, earns spot in Memorial Cup tiebreaker

Philippe Desrosiers (Dallas Stars) made 27 saves and the Rimouski Oceanic closed round-robin play with a 4-0 victory against the host Quebec Remparts at the 2015 Memorial Cup at Pepsi Colisee in Quebec City, Quebec.

Michael Joly, a prospect for the 2015 NHL Draft, had one goal and three assists for Rimouski. Alexis Loiseau had a goal and an assist, and Justin Samson and Christopher Clapperton (Florida Panthers) also scored.

Quebec goalie Zachary Fucale (Montreal Canadiens) was pulled after allowing four goals on 25 shots. Callum Booth, No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goaltenders for the 2015 draft, stopped all 17 shots he faced.

The teams will play again Thursday in the tiebreaker game (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN-US). It will mark the ninth time the teams have played this month; Rimouski beat Quebec in seven games to win the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title, and won all three games at Pepsi Colisee. Including playoffs, Rimouski has beaten Quebec six straight times at Pepsi Colisee.

"We played a good game today," Rimouski defenseman Samuel Morin (Philadelphia Flyers) told Sportsnet. "Desrosiers was a amazing. He made some really good saves. Our [defense] corps was really good today compared to the first two games. We're really happy."

Rimouski had allowed seven goals in its previous game, a 7-3 loss to the Kelowna Rockets on Monday.

Quebec, Rimouski and Kelowna all finished round-robin play 1-2-0. Kelowna earned a spot in the semifinals Friday based on a better goal percentage among the three teams.

"I think we're getting back on track. But in the meantime there's still a lot to be done," Rimouski coach Serge Beausoleil told the Memorial Cup website. "Nothing is done. We have a difficult situation to manage right now and we're playing for our lives. That's a good game for us, but we still have to do it again tomorrow."

The Ontario Hockey League champion Oshawa Generals went 3-0-0 during round-robin play and earned a spot in the championship game Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN-US).

Samson, scratched from the first two games, spun and shot the puck past Fucale at 14:36 of the first period for a 1-0 Rimouski lead. The goal came one second after a tripping penalty on Quebec's Dmytro Timashov ended.

Joly, who scored the series-clinching double-overtime goal in Game 7 of the QMJHL final, beat Fucale with a wrist shot to give Rimouski a 2-0 lead with 55 seconds remaining in the first.

Clapperton pinched in from the point to score a power-play goal at 5:36 of the second to give Rimouski a 3-0 lead. Then with Quebec's Anthony Duclair (Arizona Coyotes) serving a roughing penalty, Loiseau beat Fucale through a screen to make it 4-0 at 12:40 of the second.

That ended Fucale's night as Booth replaced him. It was Booth's first game since May 13, when he stopped all nine shots he faced while replacing Fucale for the final 26 minutes of Game 4 against Rimouski in the QMJHL final. Prior to that Booth previously played March 31, when he allowed four goals on 10 shots in starting Game 3 of the first round of the QMJHL playoffs against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.