FINAL: Voltigeurs 4, Sea Dogs 7
SAINT JOHN – On a night that was showcasing the best young stars of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, it was an old dog that stole the show.
With two goals, 20-year old Michael Kirkpatrick became the Sea Dogs’ all-time leading scorer with his 218th career point. Kirkpatrick passed follower Cape Bretoner Ryan Sparling who held the previous record of 217 points. Kirkpatrick received a long and loud standing ovation for his accomplishments.
His markers would be two-of-seven Saint John scored last night in a 7-4 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs at Harbour Station. Stanislav Galiev also added a pair while Gabriel Bourret, Jason Cameron, and Steven Anthony had goals. Jacob DeSerres made 23 saves in net.
It was a good game for the Sea Dogs for most of the night. Saint John took their foot off the pedal in the third period and it cost them two goals. The Sea Dogs will look to improve on that tonight in the second part of the doubleheader against the Voltigeurs.
Drummondville had a pair of goals from Andre Bouvet-Morrissette and singles from Maxime Villemaire and Pier-Antoine Dion. Starter Guillaume Nadeau allowed four goals on 18 shots before getting the hook. His replacement, Domenic Graham, allowed two goals on 13 shots.
In the first period, Eric Gelinas fired a point shot on goal that was stopped by Nadeau. The rebound went to the side of the net for Jason Cameron who shot the disc off the post and through the crease. But on the next Saint John rush at 6:42, Aidan Kelly sent the puck into the crease from behind the icing line, allowing Cameron to stuff it in for his first goal of the season and make it a 1-0 game.
The Sea Dogs opened up a two-goal lead at 13:43. Earlier in the game, Voltigeurs captain Marc-Olivier Vachon was given a five minute major and game misconduct for checking from behind. With that power play over for the Dogs, the Volts made the mistake of not putting anyone in the penalty box to come out, giving the Dogs some extra man advantage time. During that span, Jonathan Huberdeau weaved the puck around a defenseman and sent a short pass to Gabriel Bourret who wired one past Nadeau to make it a 2-0 game.
In the second period, Kirkpatrick entered the zone and fired a hard shot on Nadeau. The puck went off his glove and deflected into the cage to make it a 3-0 Saint John game at 1:22.
18 seconds later, the Sea Dogs had the puck along the boards in the defensive zone. The disc was turned over and somehow made its way to Maxime Vellemaire who was all alone in front. He beat DeSerres up high to make it a 3-1 game.
The Sea Dogs would respond at 3:54. Stanislav Galiev had the puck in the offensive zone and made a nice little toe drag to get around a defender. He blasted a wrist shot up high on Nadeau, chasing him from the net and making it a 4-1 Sea Dogs lead.
Saint John went to the power play at 4:11. After Graham stopped Ryan Tesink on a partial breakaway, the Voltigeurs struck while shorthanded as Andre Bouvet-Morrissette sniped a long shot past DeSerres to make it a two goal game once again.
With the power play over, Saint John got things rolling again at 9:59. Stanislav Galiev sent a pass ahead to Huberdeau who entered the zone. Huberdeau then made a beautiful spin move, firing a backhand pass to Galiev who beat Garham.
The Sea Dogs ended their second period scoring run at 18:36 as Kirkpatrick deflected a Nathan Beaulieu shot to give him 218 career points and the Dogs a 6-2 lead through 40-minutes.
In the final stanza, Drummondville got their third goal of the game. Bouvet-Morrissette came streaking into the zone and let a shot go on DeSerres. He made the save and thought he had the puck in his feet. But the disc came loose and Bouvet-Morrissette was there to bang it in at 4:48.
The Voltigeurs made things interesting at 10:39 as they made it a 6-4 tilt with a power play marker. A nice passing play down low was finished off by former Cape Breton Screaming Eagle Pier-Antoine Dion which gave the Volts some late hope for a comeback.
Despite the Voltigeurs’ best efforts and pulling their goaltender for close to two minutes, Steven Anthony iced the game with an empty netter at 19:57 to give the Sea Dogs a 7-4 win.
Drummondville went one-for-three on the man advantage while Saint John went zero-for-three.
THE NUMBERS
Drummondville, Voltigeurs 4 at Saint John, Sea Dogs 7 - Status Final
Friday, January 14, 2011 - Harbour Station
Drummondville 0 2 2 - 4
Saint John 2 4 1 - 7
1st Game Period-1, Saint John, Cameron 1 (Kelly, Gagné), 6:42. 2, Saint John, Bourret 5 (Huberdeau, Després), 13:43. Penalties-Gagné Snb (tripping), 3:24; Vachon Dru (checking from behind, checking from behind - game misconduct), 8:31; Villemaire Dru (roughing), 8:31; Bourret Snb (tripping), 8:31; Tesink Snb (roughing), 8:31.
2nd Game Period-3, Saint John, Kirkpatrick 16 (Tesink), 1:22. 4, Drummondville, Villemaire 2 1:40. 5, Saint John, Galiev 18 (Phillips, Gélinas), 3:54. 6, Drummondville, Bouvet-Morrissette 5 (Couturier, Randazzo), 5:31 (sh). 7, Saint John, Galiev 19 (Huberdeau, Phillips), 9:59. 8, Saint John, Kirkpatrick 17 (Beaulieu), 18:36. Penalties-Guertin Dru (high-sticking), 4:11; Brouillard Dru (instigator, fighting, instigator - misconduct), 19:27; Oke Snb (fighting), 19:27.
3rd Game Period-9, Drummondville, Bouvet-Morrissette 6 (Couturier), 4:48. 10, Drummondville, Dion 16 (Dionne, Raymond), 10:39 (pp). 11, Saint John, Anthony 17 (Beaulieu), 19:57 (en). Penalties-Dion Dru (fighting), 2:06; Thomas Snb (fighting), 2:06; Kelly Snb (elbowing), 9:00; Huberdeau Snb (hooking), 14:35.
Shots on Goal-Drummondville 27. Saint John 32.
Power Play Opportunities-Drummondville 1 of 3; Saint John 0 of 3.
Goalies-Drummondville, Nadeau 17-5-5-1 (18 shots-14 saves); Graham 10-7-0-0 (13 shots-11 saves). Saint John, DeSerres 16-2-0-0 (27 shots-23 saves).
A-4,402
Referees-Thane Arsenault (9), Tom Clarkson (11).
Linesmen-Wayne Doyle (43), Jay Doiron (55).
QUICK HITS
Forwards Alexandre Beauregard and Danick Gauthier and defenseman Jason Seed were the scratches… News 88.9 said that there were roughly 40-50 scouts in the building last night… Sean Couturier and Jonathan Huberdeau matched each other in the game as both had two assists… the Sea Dogs have now won six straight games… referee Thane Arsenault was hit in the face with a puck in the first period. He stayed in for the remainder of the frame but did not return for the second or third… before the game, Jacob DeSerres was named the player of the month for December and Zach Phillips was named the Academic Player of the Month… the Sea Dogs are 21-0-0-1 at Harbour Station this season… a lot of players got in the face with pucks. Stange… there was a pre-game ceremony at centre ice involving several politicians from the area showing their support for Saint John’s 2012 Memorial Cup bid… it was a little bit nasty at times on the ice and the game featured two fights. Hopefully that carries over into tonight’s game… in the second period, Couturier was given a loud round of applause when congratulations were given over the P.A. for his silver medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship. That would be considered a classy move by the Sea Dogs if you are into labeling that kind of stuff… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the same Voltigeurs team tonight at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
Photo Credit: David Connell Web Album
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