HOME WIN STREAK CONTINUES FOR SEA DOGS
The Saint John Sea Dogs came out with a 4-3 win against a scrappy Rouyn-Noranda Huskies team in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday.
The announced crowd of 4,227 fans cheered Saint John to their 12th straight home win, which was tougher than the standings might have predicted. Danick Gauthier tallied a goal and two assists, improving his league-best goals total to 23 as the first overall Sea Dogs had their hands full with the 16th-place visitors. Zack Phillips potted two goals and Charles-Olivier Roussel added the game-winner on a late power play. Tomas Jurco and Nathan Beaulieu were credited with two assists each. Mathieu Corbeil made 27 saves for the win as the Dogs improved to 20-6.
Mathieu Brisebois tallied two for the Huskies, Mathieu Lemay added a single and Robin Gusse stopped 24 for the Huskies, who fell to 7-16-1-1.
The first five minutes was filled with action as Saint John held a 7-1 shots edge in the early going. Phillips opened the scoring on the power play thanks to a nifty little play started by Beaulieu pinching down from the point. At 1:44, Jurco found Phillips waiting to the goaltender's right, where he slid the puck behind Gusse as Beaulieu drove the net to make it 1-0 for the Dogs.
Brock Morrison, recalled from junior A, added some physical play with a big hit at the five-minute mark. Midway through the frame, Corbeil made a brilliant left pad save on a Robbie DeFulviis backhander to keep the Dogs ahead in a game that, at times, looked like a schoolyard version of hot potato.
In the final minute of the first, Phillips missed an open net chance. But Gauthier extended his league lead with his 23rd goal of the season at 19:32, with an assist from Jurco.
The Sea Dogs struggled to start the second period, coughing up the puck on two plays, but Corbeil stood tall to keep the lead at 2-0. On an early power play opportunity, the Huskies turned up the pressure in the offensive zone. That led to a Rouyn-Noranda goal at 8:25. Brisebois cruised in on the right wing and fired one past Corbeil to cut the lead in half.
Scott Oke had a breakaway chance to extend the lead at 9:48, but Gusse was up to the task. Corbeil made a nice stop at the other end on a DeFulviis breakaway, turning him away with the right pad, then caught a break when Maxime St-Cyr batted a glorious opportunity wide. The Huskies held much of the momentum until Phillips potted his second on a beautiful pass from the left wing by Beaulieu at 15:24. Gauthier had the other assist on the passing play, which gave Phillips 14 on the season.
The Huskies started off the third period strong. At 3:12, Brisebois let loose a wrist shot that found its way through Corbeil to bring the game to 3-2. Less than two minutes later, the Huskies scored again on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play started by Jean-Francois Grenier and finished by Brisebois at the five-minute mark.
Trying to spark the Sea Dogs, Grant West dropped the gloves with Antoine Quevillon 20 seconds later. In a spirited bout, West managed to land a few solid punches before dropping Quevillon.
Kevin Gagne made a great defensive play to keep the score even with just over six minutes left, laying down the body to take away a 3-on-1 chance for the Huskies. Corbeil made another huge save to keep things tied shortly thereafter.
The turning point came at 16:19, when Maxime St-Cyr threw the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Just 24 seconds in to the power play, Roussel snuck in from the point and capitalized on a beautiful feed from Gauthier in the corner. Jurco notched the other assist on the goal, Roussel's sixth of the season.
The Dogs took a late penalty with Gagne heading to the box for hooking at 17:30. But Saint John held on with a solid penalty kill.
Loading...
2:13
Tomas Jurco|goals and skillsby wingacrazy19221 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)