BLOWN LEAD COSTS DOGS

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

SYDNEY, NS – What happened to the shootout dominance?

After going 62 regular season games without a loss, the Saint John Sea Dogs have now lost two in their last three games, something that has come from both cold shooters and cold goaltenders.

Wednesday night in Cape Breton, Karel St. Laurent couldn’t stop any of the three Screaming Eagles shooters, giving them a 4-3 win over the Sea Dogs in their last home game of the season. Two of three Saint John shooters scored.

St. Laurent played a great game in regulation, filling in for a sick Marco Cousineau. He made 35 saves on the night including some great saves with the pads. Olivier Roy made 26 saves to pick up his 31st win of the year.

Saint John controlled much of the game until the third period. The Sea Dogs had a 3-1 lead but could not hang on as Maxime Legault scored twice to tie the game. The Eagles picked up their physical play in the third, something they said they would have to do in order to defeat the top team in the QMJHL.

Since sweeping their three game road trip through Quebec, the Sea Dogs are 1-1-0-2. With this loss, the Sea Dogs’ seven game road winning streak comes crashing to an end.

Scoring for Saint John was Mike Hoffman, Michael Kirkpatrick, and Nathan Beaulieu. Eagle goals came from Luke Adam and Legault.

Saint John made it 1-0 right off the opening faceoff. Mike Hoffman took a pass from Nicholas Petersen and came streaking down the wing, beating Olivier Roy over the blocker to give Saint John the lead just nine seconds in.

Petersen made a nice a play at the blue line and fed Stanislav Galiev but he missed the pass and a scoring chance. The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 4:56 when Derek Larade took a delay of game call. Saint John had some pressure but no good shots.

Maxime Leagault had the first good chance for the Screaming Eagles when he was stopped by St. Laurent in front on a rebound try. Then at 8:54, it was Larade again taking the exact same penalty as he flipped the puck out in a similar location on the ice.

Saint John had a solid power play this time however, with some excellent pressure. Tomas Jurco was first stopped in a scrum followed by Nathan Beaulieu being stopped by Roy through a screen.

With the man advantage over, Zach Phillips caught Roy out of position at a bad angle. Phillips shot high but Roy made a great effort to reach up and bat down the puck.

Pier-Antoine Dion was stopped by the shoulder of St. Laurent as the eagles began to gain back some momentum. Cape Breton went to the power play at 14:53 after Pierre Durepos got called for taking down Jacob Legace. It was Saint John with the best chance early on though, as Danick Gauthier had a man open in front but could not get the pass off. Legault had a onetime chance at the other end with a wide open net but the puck bounced over his stick. That would be all for the Eagles P.P.

Shots in the opening frame were 11-7 for the visitors.

Petersen had two good chances early in the second with Saint John completely dominating the play. He first attempt featured him centering for Simon Despres in front but he sent the shot wide. Then the Pittsburgh prospect made a nice dangle to cut in front but couldn’t get a good shot off. After Michael Kirkpatrick sent a backhander wide on a two-on-one chance with Jonathan Huberdeau, the Saint John barrage of shots was finished with Nicholas Pard firing two at Roy.

Nick MacNeil started to get Cape Breton back in the game with a quality chance on the Saint John goal but ran out of room to make his move.

At 4:31, Kevin Gagne got called for holding, giving the Eagles their second power play chance. Stephen Horyl was robbed by the toe of St. Laurent off a point shot early on. Then, at 5:51, Luke Adam tied the game after he got his own rebound. The World Junior silver medalist walked in front and shot the puck over the blocker of the Saint John goalie, tying the game at 1-1.

But Saint John got the goal right back at 7:02 after a shot went off the backboards behind the Eagles net. Kirkpatrick sat at the side of the goal and simply slid the puck in with Roy at the other side of the net on the play.

Despres took a penalty for tripping at 9:13. Cape Breton had a great power play with some awesome pressure and worked the puck around the ice very well. Despite their hard work, they could not cash in on any shots. One of those shots didn’t come from Logan Shaw, who fanned on the puck in mid-air and slapped St. Laurent in the face with his stick.

The back-and-forth played picked up when the Eagles’ man advantage ended. Both teams had some shots but both goaltenders appeared to be in top form. Pard went to the box at 17:35, but the Eagles once again failed to get enough shots off to beat St. Laurent.

Cape Breton won the shots on goal battle in the period, firing 15 on goal to Saint John’s 10.

Cape Breton went to the penalty kill early on when Dion got called for interference on Despres. The Sea Dogs could not get anything going on the power play and the Eagles easily killed it off.

Galiev was sent in on a partial break following the man advantage but he was poke checked at the last minute. But on the ensuing rush, Beaulieu beat Roy on a point shot through the five-hole to give the Dogs a 3-1 lead.

The Eagles would not go away as Leagault scored on an empty net. The play came after Jean-Sebastien Fournier let a point shot and got St. Laurent out of position to stop the rebound opportunity.

Viktor Hertzberg took a penalty at 11:56, giving the Dogs a good chance to open the game up. Beaulieu had a point shot blocked which was followed by Hoffman making a great play to break up a breakaway play for Legace. Legault then had a breakaway of his own, but was stopped by St. Laurent. But on the play, the official rewarded the Eagle a penalty shot. He tried the same move but was stopped by the pad of the Saint John net minder.

Cape Breton almost tied the game when they hit the crossbar and rolled over the top of the net, fooling St. Laurent.

Disaster struck for Saint John at 16:21 when Galiev took an undisciplined checking from behind penalty. Who else other than Leagault would score? He tied the game at 3-3 on an identical play as his first goal at 17:55.

After seeing Mike Thomas take out Alex Wall on Friday, Despres decided to do the same on Legace. He steamrolled the Buffalo Sabres prospect at center ice on a massive - yet clean - hit. Brad Cuzner and Despres than dropped the gloves in a spirited tilt which we will call a draw.

With the seconds dying down in the game, Adam had an open net with the game on his stick but was slashed by Pard at the last minute, giving Cape Breton a power play in overtime.

Shots in the third were 12-7 Eagles.

In overtime, the Sea Dogs killed off the penalty and then had Gauthier hit the crossbar when it expired. The best Cape Breton chance came when Hoffman made a boneheaded play in front of the Saint John goal, trying to deke through a Cape Breton players legs. Luckily, the puck was picked up again as the Eagle player fell down.

Shots in the bonus frame were 4-1 for the home team.

In the shootout, Hoffman was stopped on a Peter Forsberg like move. Legace beat St. Laurent blocker side to give the Eagles the lead.

Then, Tomas Jurco scored one of the greatest shootout moves ever seen – no exaggeration there. He came down the wing and stopped the puck in the crease. He then did a spin-o-ramo in front of Roy, picked up the puck where it sat and slid it in. Mario Durocher was furious on the Eagles bench, saying it was illegal. Since nobody has ever seen anything like this, it was ruled a goal.

But St. Laurent allowed the next two goals, and despite Jonathan Huberdeau scoring on his usual move, Cape Breton picked up the extra point.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs head to the other island on Friday night to face the PEI Rocket in a playoff preview. Game time is 7:00 pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.