Wildcats, Oceanic clash in battle of QMJHL's best on TSN+

The Moncton Wildcats and the Rimouski Oceanic clash on Saturday in a battle between the two top teams in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League on TSN+.

Moncton leads the league with a 34-7-2 record and are nine points ahead of the Oceanic. They are red hot entering Saturday's matchup, winning 13 of their last 15 games, including a 7-1 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday.

Subscribe to TSN+ to watch the Oceanic and Wildcats face off tonight LIVE at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. 

Driving the play for Moncton is top NHL prospect Caleb Desnoyers, who is having an outstanding draft season.

Desnoyers was drafted first overall in the 2023 QMJHL Draft by Moncton and put up 20 goals and 56 points in 60 games during his rookie season last year.

The 6-foot-2 centre has taken his game to another level this year, recording 27 goals and 62 points in 38 games, which is good for second in the QMJHL scoring race.

"Caleb makes teams better and everyone around him better," TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said earlier in the month. "He doesn't do it with a lot of flash. He just does it with a real, consistent substance. Highly intelligent, highly competitive. His skills aren't of the 'wow' nature, but his impact is significant."

Desnoyers was ranked No. 6 in Button's January draft list and TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie's mid-season draft rankings.

Prior to the Canadian Hockey League trade deadline, Moncton made a huge splash by acquiring star goaltender Mathis Rousseau and forward Logan Crosby from the Halifax Mooseheads.

Rousseau, 20, was a QMJHL second-team all-star last season, putting up a 31-8-4 record and leading the league with a .925 save percentage to go along with a 2.27 goals-against average.

He also represented Canada at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden, putting up a 3-2 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.00 GAA in a fifth-place finish.

Rousseau had a 9-16-5 record with a 3.16 GAA and .906 save percentage on a struggling Halifax team that sits in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-23-5 record.

Since joining the Wildcats, Rousseau is 3-2 with a 2.61 GAA and .893 save percentage.

The Oceanic are on the Wildcats' tail in the standings, sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-10-3 record.

Rimouski has won 12 of their last 15 games, including a 7-3 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night.

The Memorial Cup hosts have made major additions to their squad in preparation for the tournament beginning with acquiring last season's QMJHL MVP Mathieu Cataford from the Mooseheads and defenceman Pier-Olivier Roy from the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the off-season.

Cataford, a Golden Knights prospect, has 13 goals and 46 points in 33 games this season and represented Canada at the World Juniors in Ottawa.

Roy has a goal and 17 points in 41 games with a plus-19 rating.

Rimouski then took their push to another level at the trade deadline, acquiring QMJHL leading scorer Jonathan Fauchon from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and power forward Eriks Mateiko from the Sea Dogs.

Fauchon leads the league with 31 goals and 67 points in 42 games this season, including six goals and 17 points in the 11 games since he was acquired by Rimouski.

Mateiko, a Washington Capitals prospect, was the captain of the Sea Dogs before the trade and has 17 goals and 22 points in 27 games this season. The 6-foot-6 winger also helped Latvia to an impressive performance at the World Juniors with five goals in the tournament, which included an upset over Canada.

The Oceanic are backstopped by rookie goalie William Lacelle, who had to take over the net after veteran netminder Samuel St-Hilaire signed an amateur tryout contract with the San Jose Barracuda, the AHL affiliate for the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 1.

Lacelle has an 18-2-2 record and is third in the league with a 2.20 GAA to go along with a .915 save percentage.

St-Hilaire was originally acquired by the Oceanic prior to the regular season from the Sherbrooke Phoenix for two draft picks in an attempt to shore up their goaltending.

He also represented Canada as the team's third goaltender at the 2024 World Juniors.

The CHL on TSN returns on Sunday with another QMJHL matchup between the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Cape Breton Eagles, which can be seen live at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT with a subscription to TSN+.