BIG GUNS BLAST BY ROCKET

STATION NATION POST-GAME
FINAL: Saint John 4, PEI 1

CHARLOTTETOWN – The curse of the Rocket is over. On October 13, Saint John suffered an ugly 4-0 loss at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. The Sea Dogs haven’t lost since as Saint John defeated the PEI Rocket 4-1 on Wednesday night on the Island.

With the win, the winning streak has hit a ridicules 18 games which is good for fourth all-time in the QMJHL. The Rocket’s five game win streak came to an end.

Mike Hoffman had a pair of goals and Michael Kirkpatrick and Nicholas Petersen added singles to help the Dogs improve to 26-4-1-0 on the year. Jarred Struthers had the lone Rocket goal.

The game was much closer then the score indicates with Saint John net minder Marc-Antoine Gelinas standing on his head against the high octane PEI offense. The Sea Dogs blew it open in the third period, scoring two goals in the span of 55 seconds to sink the Rocket’s chance of winning.

Mike Thomas tried to opening the scoring at the Civic Centre as he tried to jam a puck through Marco Cousineau’s legs just over two minutes in. Shortly after Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Joel Champagne collided with Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Simon Despres. The collision caused some jeers and cheers from the Charlottetown crowd.

Michael Kirkpatrick fired a shot high with the rebound getting by the stick of Steven Anthony.

Christopher Guay took a holding penalty at 4:55 giving Saint John their first power play opportunity. Mike Hoffman made no mistake as he fired a shot from just inside the blue line over the left shoulder of Cousineau. Hoffman’s goal at 5:35 gave him his fourth straight goal getting game. He has also scored in six of his last seven.

At 6:00, Mike Thomas leveled Brandon MacLean along the boards. He lay on the ice for several minutes before being helped off. Thomas was given a major penalty and ejected from the game, giving PEI a five minute power play.

The Rocket couldn’t get set up properly and only had a few chances while Nicholas Pard had a good chance while being shorthanded. As the Rocket power play ended, there was no Saint John player in the box, giving PEI an extended power play of just over 10 seconds.

Rookie of the month Stanislav Galiev stepped around Champagne but couldn’t get a good shot off. Rocket rookie Josh Currie centered a pass for Rangers prospect Chris Doyle but had his stick tied up. Kevin Gagne then had a good chance but sent his shot high.

Shots were 11-9 Saint John in the opening period.

Tough guy Eric Bouchard had a good chance early in the second period. He picked up a rebound but his shot was stopped by Gelinas followed by another shot hitting the side of the net.

Nicholas Petersen made it 2-0 Saint John at 4:30. Galiev gave a crisp pass to Petersen in the corner. The Dogs leading scorer walked in across the goal line and wired a shot five hole to beat Cousineau.

Ben Duffy broke loose after a turnover in the neutral zone but sent his great chance high and wide.

Despres took an interference penalty at 7:24. Champagne found the puck on his stick with Gelinas on the other side of the net but somehow missed the empty goal. But Gelinas couldn’t stop Jarred Struthers deflected shot at 8:53. He redirected a Southorn pass to go underneath Gelinas to bring the Rocket within one.

Saint John went to the power play at 10:01 but couldn’t get set up or even get a shot on goal. With the man advantage over, Hoffman blasted a shot off Cousineau’s shoulder and went wide. The Rocket goaltender was is some major discomfort but stayed in the game.

The Rocket had by far the better chances late in the second. Import Adam Polasek was stopped by a diving Zach Phillips on the one timer. PEI was able to dominate Saint John with their punishing physical play. The Sea Dogs missed Captain Thomas and his ability to change games with his body throwing.

Nicholas Pard took a roughing penalty at 17:26 followed by a too many men call at 19:54. According to Charles Reid of The Guardian, Sea Dogs head coach and Island native Gerard Gallant slammed the bench door shut and stared down the officials.

Shots were 14-9 Rocket in the second period.

Gelinas made a great save off a Struthers' blast to open the second period with PEI still on the power play. That was followed by Hoffman setting up Galiev in the other end but was stopped.

Jordan Southorn ripped a shot off the left post that just squeaked by Gelinas’ glove. Matthew Hobbs nailed Despres at the red line minutes later.

With just over 10 minutes left in the final frame, Benjamin Lecomte drilled MacLean with a shot to the leg. MacLean skated off and remained on the bench for a short time before leaving without putting weight on his leg.

It was a slow paced, back and forth first 10 minutes. But that changed quickly as shots were coming at both ends of the ice furiously. Saint John may have had the better chance in that time frame on a mad scramble in front but couldn’t send the puck home.

At 13:01 Hoffman redirected a shot that beat Cousineau up high. Hoffman’s second of the game is his seventh goal in the last three games.

Only 55 seconds later Tomas Jurco’s shot was deflected by Michael Kirkpatrick and beat an out of position Rocket net minder to make it 4-1 Saint John. It appeared to be a broken play but Steven Anthony’s centering attempt gave the Dogs a chance to score.

At 14:43 things went from bad to worse for the Rocket. As Samson Mahbob skated to the sin bin, his former Drummondville team mate Hoffman had a chuckle at his expense. Hoffman would keep on laughing for the rest of the game as Saint John held on for a 4-1 win.

Shots in the third period were nine apiece for a game total of 32-29 in favour of the home side.

Gelinas made 31 saves against his former team and improved to 18-3-0 on the season. Saint John went 1/5 on the power play.

Cousineau stopped 28 shots and fell to 8-10-0. PEI also went 1/5 on the man advantage.

NOTES: See Station Nation tomorrow for the Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook.

NEXT GAME: Gatineau Olympics vs Saint John Sea Dogs. Saturday, December 5 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.