ANOTHER BLOWN CHANCE TO CLINCH

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL/SO: Wildcats 4, Sea Dogs 3

SAINT JOHN – The wait continues.

The Saint John Sea Dogs needed only one more win to clinch first place overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. After falling 3-1 in an effortless game Wednesday against the PEI Rocket, the Sea Dogs could of ended it last night against the Moncton Wildcats.

It was not to be as the Wildcats won 4-3 in a shootout, maening the Dogs only need a single point Sunday against Halifax to clinch first.

Leading 2-0 early on in the first period, Saint John blew the lead and eventually fell behind 3-2 in the third period. But Zach Phillips tied the game, sending this one to an eventual shootout.

The Sea Dogs, who have not lost a shootout all year including three against the Wildcats, fell short as Nicolas Deschamps scored the winner and Shane Owen stopped Mike Hoffman. Tomas Jurco also hit the post.

Saint John played well for the most part and matched the play of the favoured Wildcats all night long. Both teams took momentum from the other at the times, making it a fast paced back-and-forth affair.

Moncton had some early jitters, forcing head coach Danny Flynn to call a timeout. But they came all the way back and dominated Saint John at times with their excellent power play work. Moncton went 2/5 on the man advantage while Saint John went 1/3.

Marco Cousineau played stellar in the Sea Dogs net but picked up the loss, his second straight. Owen made 35 saves on the night for Moncton but looked uncomfortable at times. He let out some huge rebounds all night long and would eventually cost him as the tying goal came off a big bounce.

Superstar goalie Nicola Riopel looked like he was getting the start in this one as he stood on the bench in full gear for several minutes before warm-up. He would miss his second straight start however with the flu.

Just 41 seconds into the first period, Kelsey Tessier took down Stanislav Galiev behind the net, giving Saint John their first power play of the night. At 1:30, Hoffman let a big shot go from just inside the point and ripped one by Owen to give the Dogs an early 1-0 lead.

Under one minute later at 2:29, Tomas Jurco picked up a loose puck in the Moncton zone just inside the blue line. Jurco was left all alone and went forehand-to-backahnd in close to beat Owen upstairs to make it 2-0, forcing the Wildcats to call a time-out.

Tessier made a great play after the goal to get around the Saint John defense by weaving the puck through a Saint John players legs but was stopped by Cousineau.

At 3:51 Pierre Durepos got called for a slash. Moncton cashed in on the power play as Brandon Gormley beat Cousineau on a point shot that went through traffic and in. That made it 2-1 Saint John.

Kirill Kabanov, playing only his second game at Harbour Station, was robbed in front by Cousineau after the goal as Moncton began to pick up momentum. That was followed by Nicholas Petersen riffling a shot in on Owen that was stopped by his pad. There was huge rebound after the shot that went straight to Hoffman but he hit the post with a wide open net.

Stephen MacAulay was sent to box at 9:33 for checking from behind. The ‘Cats continued their power play dominance as Marc Barberio blasted a point shot that beat Cousineau five-hole at 10:58 to tie it all up at 2-2.

The rest of the period was back-and-forth with neither team having any spectacular scoring chances. Shots in the first period were 12-10 Moncton.

Petersen had a partial break early but shot wide of the goal. Kabanov tried to finish off a two-on-one play for Moncton but the puck was bouncing on his stick when he tried to shoot. Gabriel Bourque then had a flashback to the World Junior gold medal game as he was stopped in close by Cousineau.

Moncton took the lead at 3:52 after a wrap around chance went in front. The puck deflected in front where Allain Saulnier beat an out of position Saint John goaltender to make it 3-2 Wildcats.
After Tyler Howe went to the box, Moncton almost beat themselves. An innocent looking shot on goal from outside the zone hit a Moncton stick and rung off the crossbar behind Owen. That would be the only chance for Saint John on the power play.

Petersen fed Hoffman on a two-on-one after the power play ended. The streaking Hoffman was stoned by the pad of Owen with the rebound finding its way out of danger.

Jurco got called for a trip at 12:42. Moncton had some great pressure on the power play and worked the puck around the boards beautifully for well over a minute but couldn’t get a single shot off before it was cleared. Saulnier was then left all alone in front but waited too long to make a decision with Cousineau following the puck and making the save on a backhand chance.

Shots in the middle frame were 11-8 Saint John.

Danick Gauthier was sent in on a breakaway at 3:16 but was taken down and was award a questionable penalty shot. Gauthier really didn’t try to fool Owen at all and shot the puck wide of the net.

The Sea Dogs finally tied the game at 9:53 after some good pressure by the team. A Yann Sauve point shot was stopped by Owen who let out a big rebound to the other side of the ice. Phillips had a wide open net in the slot area and fired the puck over a diving Owen to tie the game at 3-3, sending the sell-out crowd at Harbour Station into freak out mode.

Saint John really started to take momentum after the goal and kept Moncton outside their zone for much of the period with some smart defensive play.

That all came to an end at 11:54 when Mike Thomas absolutely lowered the boom on Alex Wall behind the Sea Dogs net. It was one of, if tnot he biggest hit ever seen at the Station with Wall lying on the ice after the hit. Thomas was given a questionable five minute major and game misconduct with Wall leaving the game by himself.

The Sea Dogs looked doomed after Moncton had already scored twice on the man advantage. But Saint John pulled off one of their best penalty kills of the season and hardly allowed Moncton to hold onto the puck. When Jurco, who served the penalty stepped out the box, the building erupted and gave the Sea Dogs a standing ovation for their efforts.

It was all Saint John after that with Galiev almost ending the game late but sent it off the crossbar. Then Hoffman had a great chance as he was in all alone but sent his shot wide, allowing this game to go to overtime.

Shots in the third period were dominated by Saint John and outshot Moncton 15-3.

Overtime was an uneventful affair with shots being 2-2 and neither team having any great scoring opportunities.

Off to shootout we went with the first shooter, Scott Brannon of the Wildcats, hitting the post. Then Hoffman shot for Saint John but made too many moves and was stopped by Owen.

After Tessier scored a beauty around Cousineau, Jurco could have tied it but hit the post on his usual move.

The leagues leading scorer in Deschamps scored glove side on the Saint John net minder, giving Moncton the extra point and a 4-3 win in the breakaway challenge.