GATINEAU DEMOLISHED

STATION NATION POST-GAME
FINAL: Sea Dogs 8, Olympiques 0

GATINEAU – The Saint John Sea Dogs proved that they are worthy of their number one ranking in the Canadian Hockey League on Sunady.

The Sea Dogs absolutely destroyed the Gatineau Olympiques 8-0 at the Robert Guertin Arena on the Quebec-Ontario border.

Marco Cousineau registered his first shutout as a Sea Dog. But he didn’t have to do to much as Gatineau only recorded 15 shots on goal in the game.

Saint John dominated the play so much - especially in the second period - that the other side of the ice was rarely seen during the match.

The Sea Dogs got a pair of goal from Danick Gauthier and Tomas Jurco while singles came from Stephen MacAulay, Michael Kirkpatrick, Nicholas Petersen and Mike Hoffman.

Michael Kirkpatrick had the first good scoring chance in the first period when he hit the crossbar on a Gatineau line change. Shortly after, Jonathan Huberdeau had his shot stopped with Nicholas Pard sending the rebound off the pad of Maxime Clermont.

After a back-and-forth few minutes, Mitchell Porowski tipped a shot wide in front of the net. Then Vincent Barnard was stopped by a quick pad reflex by Saint John net minder Marco Cousineau.

Yann Sauve let a point blast go with Stanislav Galiev picking up the rebound but failing to get the puck in the get. Benjamin Laliberte was left all alone in front of the Saint John goal but was robbed by the pad of Cousineau. Then, Danick Gauthier was stopped by the pad of Clermont in the Gatineau zone.

With the Sea Dogs on the power play at 10:27, Mike Hoffman let go two big slap shots go but neither could get by the ‘Piques’ goaltender

At 15:46, Mike Thomas did some nice work down low and fed a cross ice pass to Gauthier from below the icing line. Gauthier ripped a shot into the empty cage to make it 1-0 Saint John.

Galiev stopped at the blue line and fed the puck to a streaking Hoffman at 15:35. The Ottawa draft pick went in all alone and beat Clermont on a nice deke to his backhand to make it 2-0 Sea Dogs going to the dressing room.

Shots in the first were 13-7 for the visitors.

It was all Saint John in the second period.

Just 1:01 into the period, Pierre Durepos sent a point shot wide. The puck went around the back boards and found Tomas Jurco at the side of the net. Jurco made no mistake and beat Clermont up high to make it 3-0 Dogs.

The Sea Dogs then executed a nice two-on-one with Stephen MacAulay registering two shots on goal.

At 5:37, it was Jurco again. Yann Sauve let a point shot go with the Slovak getting his stick on it and deflected the puck into the cage. The goal went under a lengthy review but was ruled a good goal.

Michael Kirkpatrick appeared to hurt his elbow on a hit behind the Gatineau goal. He would be okay and stayed in the game. On the same play at 5:59, Alex Noel high sticked Jurco and went to the penalty box. The Sea Dogs had some good chances but couldn’t score.

Then at 9:30, Gatineau got caught with too-many-men on the ice. On the power play, Nicholas Petersen let a sharp angle shot go along the goal line that beat a fallen Clermont to make it a 5-0 Sea Dog lead.

The onslaught continued for the Olympiques. Zach Phillips was denied on a nice shot between a defenseman’s legs. Kevin Gagne let a point shot go that got deflected just wide of the goal. The Sea Dogs were having a rather easy time letting point shots go and having them getting through.

Gauthier couldn’t get a shot off on a mad scramble and then Phillips missed again as he shot high and wide of the net.

Saint John went back to the power play at 16:59 when Olivier Croteau took down Hoffman off a faceoff in the Gatineau zone. On the power play, Hoffman was robbed by the toe of Clermont. At 18:56, a Simon Despres point shot was blocked in front. The rebound was picked up by Gauthier who netted his second of the game to make it 6-0.

Just how lopsided was the second period? Saint John outshot Gatineau 17-0 in the frame – the first time in Sea Dogs history they have not allowed a shot.

18-year old Dereck Tait took over the Gatineau crease for the highly touted Clermont. Galiev had the best chance early in the third when he sent a floater through the crease but Petersen couldn’t get the rebound from his glove to his stick.

The Olympiques started to show some life mid way through the final period. Joshua Domingues let a shot go from center ice to represent the first shot on Cousineau in over 20 minutes. The shot got a nice cheer from the Gatineau faithful.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau took a tripping and unsportsmanlike penalty at 4:31. On the man advantage, Sea Dogs leading scorer Michael Kirkpatrick took a nice pass in front from Jurco and scored on a wrist shot to make it 7-0 Saint John.

Shortly after, Mike Thomas took a questionable diving penalty. On the four-on-four, Phillips walked into the Gatineau zone and passed to Huberdeau cross crease but couldn’t get a shot off.

Nicholas Pard almost made it 8-0 when Tait almost let the puck go through the five hole.

Nathan Beaulieu took two for roughing at 9:16. Cousineau actually had to do some stuff in the net as he made two good saves from close range. Then he was forced to reach back behind him on a shot and keep the puck from crossing the goal line.

Cousineau was sharp again as he robbed Christian Ouellet in front with the pad. Then, the overage goaltender stopped Laliberte with the glove on a backhand opportunity.

Stephen MacAulay rounded out the scoring at 17:32. The 17-year old roofed a wrist shot up and over Tait’s glove to make the final score 8-0.

Shots in the third period were 12-8 Saint John. The Dogs won the shots on goal battle in the game 42-15.

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

TOMORROW: The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced that disciplinary measures will be unveiled on Monday at 12:00 pm AST in regards to the incident involving Patrice Cormier of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Disciplinary Prefect, Raymond Bolduc, has been collecting testimony from witnesses involved in the incident since Monday, including those of the on-ice officials, the players and members of both organizations. Over the week-end, the Disciplinary Prefect will analyse the facts with the help of the Disciplinary Sanctions Committee. The decision will be rendered on Monday. QMJHL authorities will make no further comment until the announcement.

NEXT GAME: Val-d’Or Foreurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs. Friday, January 29, 2010 at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station.