Friday night's Memorial Cup semifinal matchup certainly lived up to its billing between a pair of league champions.
The OHL champion Guelph Storm, featuring Oilers blueline prospect Dmitri Samorukov, and QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies battled back and forth for 60 minutes with a berth in the Canadian Hockey League title game on the line.
Samorukov's Storm gained 2-1 and 3-2 advantages but three straight goals by the Huskies and an eventual empty-netter allowed the Quebec squad to persevere with a 6-4 decision to advance to play the host Halifax Mooseheads in Sunday's final.
Samorukov was held off the scoresheet in what was almost certainly the final game of his major junior career, but he was a physical presence on the back end with several big hits and also drove a fair amout of Guelph's offence with four shots on goal. He was selected as the game's second star for his efforts.
The 84th-overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft had 73 points (20 goals, 53 assists) in 83 games combined during the OHL regular season and playoffs. He is expected to begin his professional career with the Oilers organization in 2019-20.
There will be one Oilers prospect competing for the Memorial Cup title on Sunday, however, as forward Ostap Safin (115th overall in 2017) suits up for the Mooseheads, who look to win their second title in seven years.
FUTURE WATCH: Samorukov's Storm eliminated in semifinal
Guelph loses 6-4 to Rouyn-Noranda as Huskies advance to play Halifax Mooseheads in Memorial Cup championship game
