HOFFMAN WINS IT IN OT

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL/OT: Oceanic 2, Sea Dogs 3

SAINT JOHN – For the second straight day, it was a former Saint John Sea Dog net minder that stole the show at Harbour Station.

Matthew Dopud stood on his head as he and the Rimouski Oceanic managed to take the number one team in the country into a session of overtime hockey with the game tied at 2-2. But Mike Hoffman ended the upset attempt as he beat Dopud to give the Dogs their 48th victory of the season.

The Sea Dogs dominated most of the first period but slowly let the Oceanic back into the game. Much of the third was back-and-forth with Saint John struggling to get anything going on offense. This comes a day after Saint John lost 3-1 to Shawinigan.

Scoring for the winners was Nicholas Petersen, Simon Despres, and Hoffman. Rimouski replied with goals from Patrick Delisle-Houde and Ryan Kavanagh.

Karel St. Laurent stopped 27 shots in the Saint John crease while Dopud faced 47. Rimouski went 1/5 on the power play while the Sea Dogs went 1/4.

FIRST PERIOD
Michael Kirkpatrick had a few good chances in the early minutes of the first period. After a point shot was released, Kirkpatrick was left alone in front but could not put the puck into the empty cage. Then Mike Thomas laid a big hit on Patrick Delisle-Houde.

The two captains playing in this game, Thomas and Felix Lefrancois, both took penalties at 3:59. On the four-on-four, Nicholas Petersen made some nice moves down low to get around the Rimouski defenders but had his shot stopped. Then Matthew Dopud stopped Nathan Beaulieu on the rebound chance.

At 4:33, Pierre Durepos sent a pass cross-ice that was deflected in front. Petersen was right there to pick up the puck and sweep it home to make it 1-0 Sea Dogs.

Rimouski started to gain some momentum after that. A shot went wide of the goal and bounced right in front to the side of the crease but Karel St. Laurent was there to make the stop. The Oceanic had another good chance right after that on a wraparound try but sent the puck wide.

Petersen used his speed to beat the Oceanic in their own zone. He walked around the net and tried to center the puck but Dopud committed and stopped the pass from happening.

Petersen, the story of the first frame, then took a boarding call. But not to long after that Alexandre Mallot got caught taking down Thomas. When the four-on-four ended, Thomas set up Danick Gauthier in front but was robbed by the pad of Dopud and nearly did a 360-degree turn on his backside.

Gabriel Bourret sent a big shot from the point and hit Dopud in the shoulder. He seemed confused over the play but recovered to get his eye on the puck.

Michael Kirkpatrick almost found a loose puck from just inside the blue line and would have had a partial breakaway. But Dopud came all the way out of his crease to make a diving stab at the disc and tossed it down the ice.

Alex Belzile had a good chance for the Oceanic in the crease but was stopped by the big pad of St. Laurent. That caused quit a scramble but the score remained 1-0 after one.

Shots in the first were 17-7 Saint John.

SECOND PERIOD
Tomas Juco’s point shot was deflected by Kirkpatrick in front but was stopped by Dopud. Nathan Beaulieu let a big point shot go shortly after which saw the rebound bounce all the way back to the red line.

Mike Hoffman took it up a notch and carried the puck into the zone. He tried the walk through the blue point with the puck but was knocked off by the the paddle of the Rimouski goaltender.

St. Laurent came up big in the Saint John crease in the second. He robbed Ryan “don't call be Kabanov” Kavanagh with the leather. Then after a breakdown by the Saint John defense left a Rimouski player all alone in front, the Saint John goalie made a huge toe stop to keep the Sea Dogs in front.

St. Laurent continued to play well and kept his cool on a mad scramble in the crease. But at 11:24, he couldn’t stop Delisle-Houde. A Casey Babineau point shot was stopped but the rebound sat in front of the crease for Delisle-Houde who tapped the puck around St. Laurent to make it 1-1.

Pard went in on a partial two-on-one after the goal but shot the puck right into the chest of Dopud. He another good chance when he centered the puck from almost behind the net. The puck hit something and lay in the crease for a moment before being cleared away.

At 14:41 Simon Despres went to the penalty box. The Oceanic had lots of pressure on the man advantage but could not find the back of the net.

Despres gave Saint John back their lead at 17:43. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect came across the blue line along the boards and sent a weak wrist shot in on Dopud. The shot beat the ex-Sea Dog blocker side on a goal he would surely like to have back.

Shots in the middle stanza were 15-13 in favour of the visitors.

THIRD PERIOD
With Zach Phillips in the box to start the third, Kavanagh blasted a point shot after Saint John failed to get the puck cleared past the blue line. He beat St. Laurent high and just below the cross bar to tie the game at 2-2.

Mathieu Loisel was called for slashing at 2:57. The Sea Dogs had some great pressure on the power play but could not get the puck on the net. Kirkpatrick shot the puck wide and then Petersen was in the clear but sent it high.

After Thomas was called for boarding at 6:46, Saint John put together a solid penalty kill and did a great job at gaining puck possession and clearing the puck.

Despres had a great chance at the side of the goal to give the Dogs back their lead but was denied by the sharpness of Dopud.

It looked Rimouski scored the go-ahead goal at 11:23 when an Oceanic player beat St. Laurent at the side of the net. The goal was quickly waived off and Gabriel Vallee was given a goalie interference penalty.

On the power play, Petersen was stopped by the pad and then Galiev was denied on his backhand chance. That would be all for the Sea Dogs’ power play as they could not beat the man once called “I-Pod.”

Play was stopped for a moment as St. Laurent had an equipment problem. The official was feeling cruel on this day and would not allow the Saint John net minder to go to the bench, making the delay much longer than it should have been

With Beaulieu in the box at 13:34, Hoffman had a good shorthanded chance but couldn’t get a shot off. It was all Rimouski on the man advantage but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Petr Straka had a good chance as he walked in to the zone but was stopped by St. Laurent.

At 18:39, Detroit prospect Gleason Fournier shot the puck out of play meaning Saint John would go on the power play. Despite some nice puck possession, this game would require overtime.

Shots in the third were 16-7 for the home side.

OVERTIME
Just 35 seconds into overtime, Petersen made some dekes to fool Dopud and get him out of position. He fed Hoffman who had a wide open net with nobody around him. Game – Sea Dogs win it 3-2.

NOTES: Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook will wrap this one up tomorrow afternoon.

NEXT GAME: It is the best place for Saint John to go when they are struggling offensively. The Sea Dogs travel to Gatineau on Wednesday to take on the Olympiques, a team in which they have outscored 10-0 this season. Game time is 8:30 pm AST.