Islanders William Dufour displays maturity following overtime loss to Oil Kings

In their second 2022 Memorial Cup contest, the Saint John Sea Dog's fell to the Edmonton Oil Kings last night in a 4-3 overtime thriller. The Sea Dogs gained a point in the overtime loss after the Oil Kings Jaxsen Weibe completed a hat-trick in overtime. New York Islanders prospect forward, William Dufour, potted yet another goal for the Sea Dogs to give Saint John's a 3-2 lead headed into the second period.

Following an eventful first period, the following 40 minutes turned into a goaltenders duel between Detroit Red Wings prospect and Oil Kings goaltender Sebastian Cossa and Sea Dogs goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise. The Sea Dogs outshot the Oil Kings 39-31 in the contest before Weibe called game in the first-ever Memorial Cup 3-on-3 overtime format.

Following the loss, Dufour displayed maturity in his post game conference:

"We had a rough start, they were up 2-0 after five minutes but we bounced back right away which was good for our team, we showed some character. In overtime, we had some chances, like myself, I couldn’t finish. (Sebastian) Cossa made a big save, that’s why he’s drafted first round in the NHL, he’s a pretty good goalie. We’ll bounce back, we’re gonna have two days off (Thursday) and Friday, we’ll bounce back on Saturday against (Shawinigan Cataractes)"

- William Dufour

It's a humble approach by the 20-year-old prospect coming off a record-breaking season for the Sea Dogs. The Islanders' 2020 fifth-round draft pick has definitely outplayed his draft status thus far and the maturity is a welcomed bonus for a player trying to make the leap to the pro level next season.

Dufour's first-period goal was a rocket capitalizing on a forced turnover in the Oil Kings' end. The 2021-22 QMJHL crop has widely been determined as weak, so it's encouraging to see Dufour capitalizing against the CHL's top teams in each league. There's plenty of reason to be optimistic about Dufour moving forward both on and off the ice, an encouraging sign for a thin Islanders prospect pool.