SEA DOGS – OLYMPIQUES GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Gatineau 2, Sea Dogs 5
Saint John Goals: Tomas Jurco (16, 17), Stanislav Galiev (13), Stephen MacAulay (9), Zach Phillips (21)
Gatineau Goals: Tye McGinn (9) and Raphael Lafontaine (2)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Jacob DeSerres
Losing Goaltenders: GAT – Francois Lacerte and Maxime Clermont
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Olympiques: 0/5, Sea Dogs: 1/3
Shots on Goal: Olympiques: 7+10+10=27, Sea Dogs: 18+10+7=35
Attendance: 3,585
Length: 2:10
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Forward Scott Oke and defenseman Tyrone Sock sat out for Saint John.
SEA DOGS WIN 5-2
The Saint John Sea Dogs bolted out of the gates in the first period en route to a 5-2 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques on Saturday night at Harbour Station in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Tomas Jurco opened the scoring at 7:14. The import shot the puck but was stopped by Olympiques goaltender Francois Lacerte. Jurco picked up his own rebound and beat Lacerte this time around to give Saint John a 1-0 lead.
At 11:46, Stanislav Galiev was fed the puck and skated in towards the crease. The puck slipped under Lacerte to give Saint John a 2-0 lead. Then in the final minute of the third period, a point shot produced a rebound that Stephen MacAulay hammered home to give the home team a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes.
In the middle frame, Gatineau got on the board at 10:08 when Tye McGinn fired a backhand shot past Sea Dogs backstop Jacob DeSerres to make it a 3-1 game. But at 16:15, the Sea Dogs got their three goal lead back when Kevin Gagne centered the puck for a streaking Jurco who beat the newly-inserted goaltender Maxime Clermont with a deke.
In the third, the ‘Piques made it a two goal affair once again on a delayed penalty call. Raphael Lafontaine jammed the puck under DeSerres to make it a 4-2 match.
Saint John rounded out the scoring at 12:48 on the power play when Nathan Beaulieu sent a rocket pass from the point down low to Zach Phillips who deflected the puck into the cage to give the Sea Dogs a 5-2 victory.
STILL STREAKING
With the win, Saint John has now won eight straight contests.
The squad has now picked up at least a point in their last 15 games, earning 29 of a possible 30 points. The team has not lost a game in regulation since a 5-1 loss in Bathurst on October 22.
Ironically, the top the ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, had not lost in regulation since October 22nd either until they fell earlier today to Guelph.
LAPORTE RETURNS
Eight months after the initial incident, Hugo Laporte made his return to Harbour Station. As it turned out, Sea Dogs fans remembered him fondly.
As Laporte hit the ice wearing his pumpkin coloured Olympiques sweater, boos could be heard around the building as well as few hecklers shouting his name.
It took some time for Laporte to get his stick on the puck, but when he did, he was given a loud chorus of boos. As the game grew on, fans who had no clue what was going on began to chime in with a confused but determined round of shouting.
The defenseman saw lots of ice time, working the point during all situations in the contest. He finished the game with no points, no penalty minutes, and was a -1.
THOMAS SETS RECORD
Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas played in his franchise record setting 252nd career game as a Dog last night, surpassing former Saint John defenseman Yann Sauve for the most all-time.
Thomas played his first QMJHL game back on September 17, 2006 at home against the Moncton Wildcats. He assisted on a Jonathan Laberge power play goal in the third period in what would turn out to be a 5-4 Wildcats overtime victory.
BAD OMEN
When your goalie falls coming out onto the ice for warm-up, you might be in for a rough night. Although Olympiques starting goaltender Francois Lacerte didn’t exactly pull a Marc-Andre Fleury, he did fall to his knees as he skated towards the faceoff dot to the right of his net.
Lacerte allowed three goals on 18 shots in the first period. He was replaced by Maxime Clermont to start the second stanza.
Clermont didn’t do a whole lot better, allowing Saint John to score twice on 17 shots.
STILL PERFECT
The Sea Dogs remain perfect in regulation at home this season with the win. They are now 15-0-0-1 at home with their only loss coming in a shootout. They have now outscored their opposition 85-32 along the way, averaging 5.3 goals per home game.
LONG TRIP
The Olympiques wrapped a long Maritime road swing this afternoon in Bathurst, getting blownout by the Titan 8-2. Vincent Arseneau had four goals for Bathurst.
Gatineau began their trip Wednesday in PEI, defeating the Rocket 4-1. They then went on to beat the Moncton Wildcats 3-2 in overtime Friday night before falling to the Sea Dogs last night.
QUICK HITS
Danick Gauthier was named the Dickies Hardest Working Player of the Game… Michael Kirkpatrick and Tomas Jurco were both a team high +4… Zach Phillips scored his team leading 21st goal of the season. He now sits third in league goal scoring… Nathan Beaulieu had a team high six shots… Christian Ouellet had a team high five shots for Gatineau… Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres used his new pads for the first time at home... Gatineau had a seven game winning streak snapped.
QMJHL Score Sheet | Sea Dogs Website Game Reacp | SN Live Blog Replay
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs head the Charlottetown on Tuesday to face the PEI Rocket at 7:00 pm.
Photo Credit: David Connell Web Album
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