FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Drakkar 2
BAIE-COMEAU, Que. – Another year, another close game in Baie-Comeau.
With last season’s miraculous comeback still fresh in everyone’s memory, it looked as though the Saint John Sea Dogs and Baie-Comeau Drakkar were heading down the same road again. But the Sea Dogs proved to be that little bit better this season, besting the Drakkar 3-2 at the Henry Leonard Centre on Friday night in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Last season, it was Michael Kirkpatrick who tied the game with just seconds remaining in the third period. Saint John would go on to ultimately win a shootout. This season, Steven Anthony scored with a little bit more time remaining as he netted the winner at 16:39 of the third.
The Sea Dogs played a pretty solid first period but just couldn’t find their grove in the middle frame. The Drakkar were all over the Dogs, taking a 2-1 lead at one point before Danick Gauthier tied the affair in the final minute of the period. Mike Thomas had the other Saint John goal.
Raphael Bussieres and Jean-Philippe Caron scored for Baie-Comeau. Drakkar netminder Jason Missiaen was excellent in goal, making 29 saves and joining the list of opposing goaltenders who have nearly stalled Saint John’s high octane offense over the past few weeks.
At the other end, 20-year old Jacob DeSerres also had a strong game. He made 21 stops on the night. The stats don’t do DeSerres much justice, however, as some of his saves were crucial to keep Saint John in the game at times. He was stellar in the third period, making a few huge stops.
FIRST PERIOD
After a dull first few moments of action, Danick Gauthier was called for hooking at 2:27. The Drakkar, sporting the worst power play in the QMJHL, had some puck possession but created very few scoring chances.
Saint John opened the scoring at 6:34. Steven Anthony was just inside the line and sent the puck down to Zack Phillips. The Fredericton native sent a cross ice pass to New Maryland native Mike Thomas who popped one past the Baie-Comeau goaltender to give the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead.
A few moments later, Phillips came across the line and let loose a solid shot but was gloved away by Drakkar netminder Jason Massiaen. Shortly after, defenseman Eric Gelinas fired a point shot that produced a rebound but it was fired wide.
The Dogs had a power play of their own at 14:47 as Danny Chaiasson was called for tripping. During that span, the puck sat in the crease area for a few moments and created some buzzing but Thomas was unable to get a shot off before it was covered.
At the other end and the penalty over, the Drakkar had a decent chance as they tried the jam the puck past Jacob DeSerres. But the puck was quickly recovered by the Dogs and carried it up ice.
Shots in the opening frame were 11-4 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
In the middle frame, the Drakkar came flying out of the gates and put the pedal to the ground. Early on, Maxime Gravel had a great chance in close following a turnover, forcing DeSerres to make a nice stop in the Sea Dogs crease.
Saint John defenseman Jason Seed had a decent opportunity just prior to Gelinas tossing the puck out of play, giving Baie-Comeau their second man advantage of the night. After some nice passing and what not, the Sea Dogs were unable to get the puck out as the Drakkar kept pressing. The puck found its way to the crease where Raphael Bussieres somehow put it in to tie the match at 1-1.
On the next shift, Alexandre Durette tested DeSerres, making him make a big time glove save on a quick shot.
As the period grew on, the Sea Dogs finally started to get some momentum going their way. Stanislav Galiev had the puck in front but just sent the disc wide. After a fancy spin by Simon Despres, the puck then found Ryan Tesink who had a good shooting lane but a Baie-Comeau defender got his stick in the way and deflected it out of danger.
The Drakkar took their first lead of the game at 12:25 as Jean-Philippe Caron appeared to defect the shot up and over DeSerres to make it 2-1 for the home side. The officials would go upstairs, and after a short delay, it was ruled a good goal.
The score seemed to spark the Sea Dogs a little bit as they started to dictate the play later in the frame. At 19:06, Tesink shot the puck on goal and Missiaen couldn’t handle the rebound. The large goaltender wasn’t big enough to stop Gauthier’s rebound attempt who scored to tie the game up at 2-2 going into the second intermission.
Shots were 11-8 Baie-Comeau in the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
In the final session, Saint John stormed back with some great chances. The first came when a Simon Despres shot was deflected on goal, forcing the Drakkar ‘tender to make a nice stop. After Eliezer Sherbatov couldn’t jam the puck past DeSerres, the Sea Dogs started to get a flurry of scoring opportunities.
Thomas had another solid chance in close but was denied once again by Missiaen. After Tesink was stopped on a break, Michael Kirkpatrick sent a shot on net that was stopped as well as Galiev’s rebound attempt. Phillips then sent a nice pass down low to Anthony who unleashed a backhander that was also stopped by a zoned in Missiaen.
Baie-Comeau had a two-on-one after Saint John had a few moments of offensive pressure. Sherbatov got a shot off but was stoned by a dialed in DeSerres. Shortly after, the Drakkar could smell a goal but Lukas Cingel sent the puck through the blue paint, keeping the affair tied at 2-2.
Alexandre Beauregard then had a great opportunity to give Saint John the lead, but Missiaen made one of his best saves of the night by the getting the glove on it to keep it out.
The Drakkar netminder couldn’t stop Anthony at 16:39, however. The Vancouver Canucks prospect stripped Bussieres of the puck and sniped one past Missiaen to give the Sea Dogs their second lead of the game.
Baie-Comeau pulled Missiaen in the final minute in favour of the extra attacker. Despite some somewhat close calls, Saint John would hang on for the 3-2 victory.
Shots in the final 20-minutes were 13-8 Sea Dogs.
Saint John went 0-for-1 on the power play while Baie-Comeau went 1-for-2.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
After spending most of the week at the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects, defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco were all healthy scratches.
Forward Zack Phillips also participated in the event but he did suit up for the Dogs. News 88.9 hinted that he may be given tomorrow’s game in Chicoutimi off.
QUICK HITS
The lines were all over the map again tonight with Huberdeau and Jurco getting the night off. Captain Mike Thomas jumped up to fill Huberdeau’s spot on a line with Zack Phillips and Steven Anthony while Stephen MacAulay replaced Jurco and played alongside Michael Kirkpatrick and Stanislav Galiev… only three penalties were called in the game… Baie-Comeau has the worst power play in the league but were still able to find the back-of-the-net on a man advantage in the second period… our pal Hugo Laporte had no points and was a -2 on the night… only 1,428 at the game but they were loud and boisterous as they watched their Drakkar go toe-to-toe with Canada’s top-ranked team… the Sea Dogs have now earned at least a point in their last eight games. They are 7-0-1-0 during that stretch… rant: Bell internet can be a real joke some times… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs are in Chicoutimi Saturday to play the Sagueneens at 5:00 pm.
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
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