FINAL: Sea Dogs 4, Wildcats 3
MONCTON – Despite some nervous moments in the third, the Saint John Sea Dogs managed to pull off their fourth consecutive victory with a 4-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats on Friday night in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Leading 4-2 at the time, Saint John took three straight penalties in the final frame. But despite all the man advantages and the Wildcats scoring with their goaltender pulled, the Sea Dogs were able to hang on in the final minutes to insure a victory.
Jonathan Huberdeau, wearing a full face shield after taking a stick in the face on Sunday in Quebec City, scored a pair of first period goals while Zack Phillips and Nathan Beaulieu added singles.
Moncton had goals from Simon Jodoin, Marek Hrivik, and Ted Stephens.
It was a pretty good game for Saint John who were playing their fourth straight road game. Their penalty killers came through in a big way at times, not only stopping the ‘Cats in the third period, but also by only giving up one goal on Tomas Jurco’s five-minute major penalty in the first period.
Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil picked up his first regulation win as a Sea Dog, making 26 saves in the victory. Wildcats netminder Steve Gleeson allowed four goals on 32 shots in the loss.
FIRST PERIOD
Zack Phillips created the first scoring chance as he centered the puck for Jonathan Huberdeau but the disc went wide of the goal. At the other, Mathieu Corbeil was caught out of position a bit in net and had to scramble back to his crease quickly to stop a Wildcat shot.
Moncton went to the power play at 5:40 as Ryan Tesink headed off. The Wildcats had some good pressure going as Marek Hrivik cut into the crease from the corner but sent a shot wide. Then a wrister from the dot beat Corbeil through the legs but was cleared away in the blue paint before it crossed the line.
The Sea Dogs had a power play of their own at 7:58. Phillips almost had a breakaway but Brandon Gormley was able to swipe the puck off his stick. After a mad scramble in the crease, the puck came loose for Huberdeau who beat a fallen Steve Gleeson at 8:53 to open the scoring.
Ted Stephens had a good chance for the ‘Cats a few minutes later but was denied by the glove of Corbeil. At 10:10, Tomas Jurco ran into Scott Trask at the blue line and sent the Wildcat flying. Trask immediately threw the gloves down, forcing Danick Gauthier to come in and take on Trask in an evenly played fight.
Jurco was given a game misconduct and five minute major for the hit to the head, giving the home team a lengthy man advantage. Moncton would tie the match on that power play at 11:06 as a Gormley point shot was stopped but Simon Jodoin beat Corbeil on the rebound to tie the match at 1-1.
With Jurco’s penalty still on the board, Ryan Tesink and Huberdeau broke in on a shorthanded two-on-one. Tesink centered the puck beautifully for Huberdeau who had a yawning cage to make it a 2-1 Sea Dogs lead at 14:50.
Saint John put forth a decent penalty kill, only giving up a goal during the five minute span.
Shots in the opening frame were 11-9 Moncton.
SECOND PERIOD
In the second, Alexandre Beauregard chipped the puck ahead to Tesink who was in the slot but Gleeson got enough of it to deflect the disc away from danger.
The Sea Dogs went back to the power play at 2:53. Saint John couldn’t get much of anything going over the time span and even gave up a decent two-on-one chance to the Saulnier twins.
With the penalty over, Scott Oke had the Sea Dogs buzzing as he fired the puck through the blue paint and missed the empty net. The near goal capped off a few moments a great pressure by the visitors. Huberdeau then created a decent opportunity, splitting through the defense in the offensive zone and getting a shot on net that was padded away by Gleeson.
At 9:56, Marek Hrivik tied the match for the Wildcats, making it a 2-2 affair. But not long after, Phillips broke in and made a beautiful deke, making Gleeson look silly while doing so. The Fredericton native found the back-of-the-net to give Saint John a 3-2 advantage.
A few minutes after the goal, Gauthier fired a shot that created a big rebound but Tesink just couldn’t get a stick on it. Soon after at the other end, Devon MacAusland had a few whacks at the puck but couldn’t jam it past Corbeil’s pad.
After Steven Anthony fired wide on a two-on-one opportunity, the Sea Dogs went back to the man advantage at 16:16. On the ensuing power play, Saint John worked the puck around tremendously and created quite a few quality scoring opportunites. Finally, at 17:42, Beaulieu was parked inside the line a blasted the puck past Gleeson to give the Sea Dogs a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Shots in the middle stanza were 15-8 Saint John.
THIRD PERIOD
Not a whole lot happened in the third period other than players parading to the box. A late Moncton penalty in the second period gave the Dogs an early power play opportunity but they could not get things rolling.
At 3:24, a heavyweight bout between Mike Thomas and Tyler Howe took place. It was a bit of a disappointing fight as there weren’t a whole lot of punches thrown. The officials eventually broke up the lengthy scrap. Thomas picked up the extra penalty for “taking off one's own helmet or attempting to pull off an opponent's helmet, undo the chinstrap or his opponent's.”
After Saint John killed a Stanislav Galiev penalty, Kevin Gagne headed to the box at 11:02. The ‘Cats came close as Hrivik wired a shot off the crossbar.
Not long after 14:41, Gabriel Bourret was flagged for interference but Moncton could not cut the lead. on the power play The Wildcats pulled Gleeson from the net with well over two minutes remaining and it paid off as Ted Stephens scored at 18:15 to make it a 4-3 game. It appeared as though Corbeil covered the puck long enough for a whistle, but after a brief review and some yelling from the Sea Dogs bench, it was still ruled a good goal.
With the ‘Cats appearing to be gaining some momentum in the final minute, Trask ended hopes of a Moncton comeback by taking an undsiciplned holding penalty at 19:11. Saint John would cruise the rest of the way to a 4-3 win.
Shots in the third stanza were 10-8 Moncton.
The Sea Dogs went 2-for-6 on the man advantage while the Wildcats went 1-for-6.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Saint John sported the same lineup as they did in their 4-2 road win in Quebec City on Sunday. Forwards Jason Cameron and Aidan Kelly along with defenseman Jason Seed were all healthy scratches.
QUICK HITS
The Sea Dogs are now 5-0 against Moncton this year… Saint John now leads the all-important Rivalry Cup Challenge 19-6… Mathieu Corbeil sported his new mask. He played well for most of the night but let out some big rebounds… this was the first game of a three-in-three for Saint John. They play the next two games at home against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar... Jonathan Huberdeau was the News 88.9 Top Dog… Saint John, who entered the game with the league’s best road power play, went 2-for-6 on the man advantage… Eric Gelinas had a team high five shots for the Dogs… Marek Hrivik, who has been dominating the Sea Dogs for years now, led the way for the Wildcats with seven shots… Brandon Gormley was a -2. He was average at best… Huberdeau and Zach Phillips are now tied for the team lead in goals once again with 29.
THE HIT
As for the hit Tomas Jurco put on Scott Trask in the first period, the Slovakian could see himself suspended as it was a bit of a blindside hit. Trask was okay, obviously, as he threw his gloves off to fight before even standing up straight again.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host Hugo Laporte and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station.
Photo Credit: Marc Grandmaison
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