STATION NATION RECAPFINAL/SO: Sea Dogs 6, Huskies 5
ROUYN-NORANDA – Mike Hoffman almost one this game by himself.
Hoffman scored three goals and added assist as the Saint John Sea Dogs slipped by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6-5 in a shootout Sunday evening in northern Quebec. The win capped off another perfect road trip for the Sea Dogs as they go 3-0 on their last Quebec road swing of the season.
For the man who wears number 27, he tied and broke Scott Howes’ team record for goals in a season by scoring his 43rd of the year in the dying minutes of Saturday’s game. He would also score in the shootout.
Despite allowing five goals in this game, the sometimes shaky Karel St. Laurent played an excellent game and made 37 saves on the night. Saint John fired 32 shots on former Acadie-Bathurst net minder Nicholas Champion.
Scoring for the victors were Mike Hoffman, Nicholas Petersen, and Michael Kirkpatrick. Rouyn-Noranda had offensive production from Gabriel O’Conner, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Jean-Sebastien Berube, Gabriel Levesque, and Christopher Losier.
FIRST PERIOD
It was all Rouyn-Noranda early in the first period. After two good chances by the Huskies and lots of pressure, Gabriel O’Conner scored at 1:45 to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. He beat goaltender Karel St. Laurent up high on the first shot of the game.
Moments later O’Conner had another good chance but was stopped by St. Laurent and missed on his rebound opportunity. Then Jean-Sebastien Berube sent a shot from close range off the side of the goal.
Saint John finally had a chance to open up their scoring when Nicholas Petersen fed Mike Hoffman but he sent the shot wide. Shortly after at the other end, Sergey Ostapchuck tipped a Jerome Gauthier-Leduc shot off the crossbar.
The huskies made it two goal game at 6:29 when Leduc went forehand to backhand to beat St. Laurent on a deke. The goal came on a delayed penalty against the Sea Dogs.
The next shift, Jordan Caron was stopped by the pad of St. Laurent as the Husky onslaught continued. Then Saint John started to take some momentum.
Berube got called at 7:58 for a slash to give Saint John a power play. On the man advantage, Hoffman blasted his 41st goal of the year past Nicholas Champion from the point to make it a 2-1 Huskies lead.
At 10:47, Sainy John captain Mike Thomas and Christopher Losier dropped the gloves in the Sea Dogs end. It was spirited tilt with both players throwing some solid punches. The officials eventually ended the bought.
On another power play at 11:43, Michael Kirkpatrick sent a point shot that was stopped by Champion in the crease. He couldn’t hold on to the rebound as Petersen netted his 37th of the season to tie the game at 2-2.
After Christian Morin went to the box at 12:10, Hoffman sent a shot off the post while shorthanded. The Huskies could not get anything going on the power play but had another chance at 16:09 when Kevin Gagne got called for the hold. Rouyn-Noranda had some good pressure but struggled to get any quality chances.
Shots in the first period were 13-6 for the home team.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period was much more evenly played. Saint John had the first chance early on as Hoffman sent a point shot on goal but was tipped in front, forcing Champion to make a good save in close.
The Huskies went to the power play at 5:23 when Gagne got called for tripping. Opstapchuck had a wide open net on the man advantage but sent his shot through crease. Rouyn-Noranda was excellent on the power play but couldn't get the go-ahead goal.
Zach Phillips, who has been hotter than Cyprees Mountain lately, fed Jonathan Huberdeau in front but cranked the puck off the post. The Sea Dogs went back to power play at 10:06 and had some good chances. Nicholas Pard had a sharp angled shot stopped as the Dogs had great pressure. However, they failed to score.
With this being such an evenly played period, Caron decided he better take some action of some sort. In a bizarre turn of events, an official skated over to the Rouyn-Noranda bench and slapped a misconduct of the former Rimouski Oceanic. It is believed he was yapping at the referee.
At 11:05, Saint John went back to the power play but couldn’t score despite some solid possession. Hoffman took a tripping call at 12:10 to make the play four-on-four. The Huskies had two terrific chances when their P.P. but St. Laurent was there to keep the disc out.
In the final minute of the period, the Huskies got their lead back. Berube scored at 19:27 after the Sea Dogs couldn’t clear the puck to make it 3-2 heading into the intermission.
Shots in the middle frame were 11-9 in favour of the second ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League.
THIRD PERIOD
The Sea Dogs came out firing in the third period. Just 39 seconds in, Hoffman tied the team record for goals in a season after his shot deflected in off a Husky defender to tie the game 3-3.
Then just 17 seconds later, Saint John took the lead for the first time as Kirkpatrick scored at 0:56. The Nova Scotian picked up a loose puck behind the goal and beat Champion on what was a bit of a weak goal against to make it a 4-3 Sea Dogs lead.
The Huskies began to fall apart after that as Berube hauled down Nathan Beaulieu to give Saint John a power play. Hoffman had his shot stopped with Petersen there to get the rebound but sent it wide. Tomas Jurco and Kirkpatrick also had opportunities on the man advantage.
Rouyn-Noranda tied it at 6:28. Gabriel Levesque finished off a nice passing play to make it a 4-4 game with still lots of time left.
Then Pier-Luc Giguere sent a shot in on St. Laurent that caused a mad scramble in the crease. Out of that, Hoffman got called for cross check but the Huskies could not score.
There was lots of back-and-forth play until the 15:01 mark. After a missed icing call against the Huskies, Losier found the back of the net to put the home team back in front by score of 5-4. That caused Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to flip his lid at the linesmen. That lasted for several minutes until Gallant was given an unsportsmanlike penalty.
On the power play, Giguere had the best Rouyn-Noranda chance as he missed an open cage.
The Sea Dogs had some good pressure until they took a timeout. Then with just 44 second left in the game, Hoffman made history by scoring his 43rd goal of the season and breaking the team record. A slick backhander went through some traffic and beat Champion five hole to send this one to overtime.
Shots in the third were 15-9 Huskies.
OVERTIME
Extra time was pointless. Pard had the best chance in overtime on a partial break but was stopped by the blocker of Champion.
Shots in the extra session were 6-5 Sea Dogs.
SHOOTOUT
The Sea Dogs in the shootout this season have become as predictable as the women’s hockey Olympic final. St. Laurent stopped both Ostapchuck and Leduc while Hoffman and Jurco scored to give Saint John the extra point.
NOTES: See Station Nation tomorrow for Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket on Wednesday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station. The two teams will likely play each other in round one of the playoffs.
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