PETERSEN'S THREE GIVE DOGS 15

STATION NATION POST-GAME
FINAL: Saint John 7, Lewiston 4
LEWISTON, ME – It was a wild one in Lewiston as defense was thrown out the window. But, it still got the job down as the Saint John Sea Dogs rattled off their 15 consecutive victory by score of 7-4. The Lewiston Maineiacs, not known for their defensive abilities, played a strong game but could not stop the surging Sea Dogs on Sunday afternoon at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Unlike other games between the two, there were no punches thrown, no drinks poured on player’s heads, or game winning goals scored off of Travis Fullerton’s back. The game was still entertaining though as it went back and forth and no lead appearing safe.

Scoring for Saint John was Nicholas Petersen, Michael Kirkpatrick, Steven Anthony, Mike Hoffman, and Stanislav Galiev. Lewiston replied with goals from Matt Boyle, Etienne Brodeur, and Sebastien Trudeau.

Saint John came flying out of the gates in the first period. The Sea Dogs had an early power play but could not muster a good scoring chance. Lewiston didn’t get a shot on goal in the first six minutes of the game.

Lewiston gained some momentum a few minutes after that six minute mark as Etienne Brodeur walked around the Saint John defense and had a good chance.

The Maineiacs opened the scoring at 9:51after a shot from the point was hit by the stick of Michael Chaput. Chaput redirected the puck by an out of position Karel St. Laurent to make it 1-0. The goal was only Lewiston’s second shot on goal.

Less than a minute later at 10:39 Nicholas Petersen netted his twelfth goal of the year. Gabriel Bourret’s point shot went high and wide but bounced off the glass right to Petersen who slid it by the left post to tie the game. Bourret’s fourth assist came in only his fourteenth game of the season.

Right off the ensuing power play Tomas Jurco’s backhander hit the crossbar. Saint John and its league worst penalty kill then killed off a Kevin Gagne interference penalty.

Saint John got their first lead of the game at 17:04. A shoot in attempt caused a turnover in the neutral zone. Stanislav Galiev picked up the puck and beat Adrien Lemay five-hole to make it 2-1 for the visitors.

Near the end of the period Michael Kirkpatrick walked in and around former Sea Dog Mathieu Gingras but could not beat Lemay. Kirkpatrick had another chance on the rebound but again couldn’t beat the overage goaltender.

Saint John outshot the Maineiacs by a large margin of 16-2 in the opening frame. Petersen had three of those 16 shots.

Just 1:50 into the second period the Sea Dogs got a two goal lead. Jurco and Steven Anthony formed a nice give-and-go with Anthony ending the play with his thirteenth goal of the season. It was his first goal since November 7 versus Rouyn-Noranda.

Gerard Gallant has been getting frustrated with the QMJHL officiating of late and showed it again in this game. Gallant had right to be angry after the referee’s missed an obvious Lewiston penalty only to have a call against Petersen shortly after. With this being the “Q”, a make-up call was made 7:29 as Alexander Beaton was called for interference.

With Beaton just out of the box, Petersen fed a beautiful pass in front of the goal but Galiev and Kirkpatrick couldn’t jam it home. Gabriel Bourret went to the box at 11:27 for delay of game but Saint John had the best scoring chance early on with Mike Hoffman being stopped on a breakaway.

With Bourret still in the box, former Moncton Wildcat Matt Boyle scored his first as a Maineiac at 12:28. Boyle beat St. Laurent with a sharp angle shot and continued Saint John’s penalty killing woes.

That would be all for the second period with the Sea Dogs dominating Lewiston again. The Dogs outshot the Maineiacs 13-7 in the middle frame.

Karel St. Laurent opened the third period in fine fashion as he robbed Jean-Francois Plante with the left leg. Maineiacs goaltender Adrien Lemay replied with a nice right leg save on Hoffman.

New Jersey Devils prospect Eric Gelinas took a hooking penalty at 10:43. With the Sea Dogs on the power play Kirkpatrick crept in from the point and gave a pass to Petersen who scored to make it 4-2 Dogs.

Following the goal, Nicholas Pard made a nice centering pass to Jonathan Huberdeau but was denied by the left arm of Lemay.

At 12:29 St. Laurent was caught snoozing as he let in a weak little floater from Sebastien Trudeau. That goal made it a one goal game again.

Saint John responded to that goal at 14:47. Lemay made a beautiful poke check on Petersen but was caught out of position to stop the Mike Hoffman rebound shot who made no mistake to make it 5-3 Sea Dogs.

Zack Shannon hauled down Danick Gauthier 15:28 and paid for his punishment in the penalty box. Just seven seconds into the power play Simon Despres blasted a point shot that was tipped by Petersen and beat Lemay to make it 6-3 Saint John. The goal also gave Petersen a hat trick.

Lewiston didn’t give up though as they made it a two goal game again at 19:05. Gelinas blasted a point shot that was stopped by St. Laurent. The Dogs net minder couldn’t stop the rebound as Brodeur scored his fifth of the season.

Lemay went to the bench in exchange for an extra attacker but backfired as Kirkpatrick scored all the way from his zone to make to the final score 7-4.

Shots in the third period were 13-11 in favour of Saint John. The Sea Dogs won the shots on goal battle 42-20.

St. Laurent improves to 8-2-0 on the season while Lemay falls to 10-12 on the season.

NOTES: The attendance was 1,517… scratches for Saint John were Benjamin Lecomte and Olivier Ouellet… Billy Lacasse has an injured knee and was scratched… wearing the captian’s “C” for the injured Lacasse was Matt Boyle… Rex Baldwin was absent again from the News 88.9 out of town scoreboard again. Brian Cleveland had the call… News 88.9 Top Dog was Steven Anthony… see Station Nation tomorrow for more post-game coverage and “game at a glance.”

NEXT GAME: Drummondville Voltigeurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs. Friday, November 27, at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station.