IT'S OVER

STATION NATION POST-GAME
FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Wildcats 7

MONCTON – Just like that – it’s over. It was two months ago on October 13 when the Sea Dogs last lost a hockey game. They lost by a four goal margin, just like they did on Sunday afternoon at the Moncton Coliseum.

The Sea Dogs lost an ugly one as they fell 7-3 to the Wildcats. In a match up that pitted the league’s best offence versus the best defense, Moncton proved that defense would rule in this one. Saint John was also playing their third game in as many days.

Saint John had a 2-1 lead early in the second but lost it with their special teams units. Moncton went an astonishing 3/6 on the power play and had a shorthanded goal and a rare shorthanded penalty shot goal.

Goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas struggled, allowing seven goals on 30 shots. All of this with the trade deadline approaching and Jake Allen rumors being produced on the hour.

Scoring for the Sea Dogs were Stanislav Galiev who had a pair, and Tomas Jurco. The winners replied with goals from Marek Hrivik, Randy Cameron, Mark Barberio, and Scott Brannon. Cameron set a career high as he had five points on this night.

Moncton took an early 1-0 lead at 1:05. Red Wings prospect Randy Cameron corralled the puck in the corner and came out in front. He gave a short pass to Marek Hrivik who netted his ninth to open the scoring.

Scott Brannon came in on a two-on-one for the Wildcats but rung his shot by the glove of Marc-Antoine Gelinas and off the post. Mike Hoffman came back on the next rush and had a good scoring chance.

Michael Kirkpatrick wristed a shot and the puck laid in the crease for Nicholas Pard but was tied up at the last minute.

Cameron took a slashing penalty at 8:33. He picked the puck out of Gelinas’ side and went in the net after the whistle. The red light went on and the crowd cheered but there was no goal. Saint John had good pressure on the man advantage but couldn’t get any shots through the Wildcats defense.

After Moncton hit the post yet again, Nicholas Petersen gave a Stanislav Galiev a break out pass and he went in alone. The Russian went high glove side and beat Shane Owen to make it a 1-1 tie.

Some scrambling in front of the net caused some good chances later on in the period. The puck went to point for Benjamin Lecomte but completely missed the puck on his mighty swing and went all the way down the ice to Gelinas’ net.

Galiev had a good scoring chance with five minutes left but was robbed by Owen’s glove. The play was started after the puck had hit a referee at the line.

Jonathan Huberdeau took an interference penalty at 17:50. The Sea Dogs’ penalty kill unit did a good job and kept the Wildcats to very few scoring chances.

Moncton outshot the Sea Dogs 13-10 in the first period.

Galiev gave Saint John a 2-1 lead just 25 seconds into the second period. A high pass from behind the net was taken down by Hoffman and gave a short pass to Galiev who netted his second of the game.

Michael Kirkpatrick had a good chance at the side of the goal but hit the side of the net. Then a great play by Gelinas behind the goal gave Saint John a quick step across their own blue line.

Simon Despres took a penalty at 5:42 and the Wildcats went on the power play. Ted Stephens’ shot was deflected by Gagne’s stick in front but Gelinas recovered to make the save.

Then Pierre Durepos took a slashing penalty at 8:29 allowing Gelinas to rob Mark Barberio of a goal down low. A defensive breakdown caused a two-one-one for the Wildcats. A great diving pass down low gave Cameron a chance to score in the empty net and made no mistake as he tied the game at 2-2.

At 10:55 Saint John went to the power play and proved to be deadly for the Sea Dogs. Barberio faked a pass and scored shorthanded at 11:57 to give the Cats the lead again.

Then, Gagne had no chose but to take down Brannon who was going in alone. The interference caused a penalty shot and Brannon scored glove side on Gelinas to give the Cats a two goal lead.

As if that wasn’t enough, just over three minutes later Hrivik recorded his third point of the game on an out of position Gelinas. He went on to celebrate as if he had won the league title.

With Saint John on the power play yet again, Allain Saulnier went in on a shorthanded break but was stopped nicely by a Gelinas poke check. Saint John didn’t have many good chances on the man advantage.

The Wildcats outshot the Sea Dogs 14-7 in the middle frame.

With Benjamin Lecomte’s penalty carrying over, Cameron sent a cross ice pass to Brannon who beat a down Gelinas just 29 seconds into the final period. That made it 6-2 for the home side.

Owen stood tall in the Wildcats net all game long and the third period was no exception. He made a diving pad stack save on Galiev. Then Mike Thomas nearly threw himself into the stands as he missed a hit on a falling Wildcat behind the goal.

Tomas Jurco took a penalty at 8:50. Moncton had some good pressure on the power play but no real solid chances. After the power play expired, many of the Wildcat faithful headed to the exits.
At 10:55 Thomas laid a big hit on Simon Jodoin but was called for interference as the puck was nowhere near the two. With just seconds left in the power play, Savard’s shot was heading way high but a nice deflection by Cameron sent it into the goal to make it 7-2.

Steven Anthony had a good chance to make the game somewhat interesting but couldn’t slide the puck by the blue paint.

A Huberdeau wrap around caused a juicy rebound at the side of the goal. Jurco picked up the garbage and scored to make 7-3. Jurco sent the puck up high as Owen was down on his knees trying to find the puck.

Saint John had one last scoring chance when Zack Phillips sent a shot through the crease and out the other side. That would be all in this one as the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 7-3.

Shots in the third period were 13-12 in favour of Saint John. Moncton won the shots on goal battle in the game 39-30.

Marc-Antoine Gelinas picks up his first loss in 15 games. He falls to 20-4-0 amidst the Jake Allen rumblings. The Sea Dogs went 0/4 on the power play.

The impressive Shane Owen picks up his seventh win of the season. Moncton went an incredible 3/6, or 50 percent, on the power play.

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

NEXT GAME: Halifax Mooseheads vs Saint John Sea Dogs. Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.