The Acadie-Bathurst Titan came away with a 4-3 overtime win over the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday at the 2018 Memorial Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan. Liam Murphy scored the overtime winner at 2:58 of the extra period.
The Titan were led in scoring by captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel of Rimouski, Quebec. Truchon-Viel had three assists and was a +4. Samuel Asselin of L’Assomption, Quebec also had a multi-point game as he notched two goals. The other Titan player who scored was Adam Holwell of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The Titan scored two of their four goals shorthanded. Asselin scored with the Titan a man down with 1:53 left in the second period and Holwell scored the game tying goal shorthanded at 5:51 of the third period to tie the game at three. On both shorthanded goals, Truchon-Viel had assists.
In an interesting story, the Titan and Broncos play in the two smallest markets in the entire Canadian Hockey League. Bathurst has a population of 12,75 and Swift Current has a population of 16,604.
It was the third straight year that the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion beat the Western Hockey League champion at the Memorial Cup. At the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer, Alberta, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-3 and at the 2017 Memorial Cup in Windsor, Ontario, the Saint John Sea Dogs hammered the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-0.
The Titan do not have a long time to celebrate however. That is because they are back on the ice Sunday night against the host Regina Pats.