COUSINEAU SAYS NO

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 4, Rocket 0

CHARLOTTETOWN – This is why the Saint John Sea Dogs traded for goaltender Marco Cousineau.

Playing their first round playoff opponent in enemy territories, Cousineau and the Sea Dogs shutout the Prince Edward Island Rocket 4-0 on Friday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

It was the Saint John net minder’s first game back on the Island since being traded by the Rocket, and he performed it in fine fashion. Cousineau stopped 32 shots on the night for his third shutout of the year with the Sea Dogs, setting a franchise record for most goose eggs in a year.

Saint John won the game without its best player as well. Mike Hoffman was sick in a hotel bed with the flu as his team picked up the victory. The Saint John squad has been depleted by the flu all week, but it certainly didn’t seem to affect them much tonight.

The Sea Dogs yet again used a balanced attack as four different players scored and nine players picked up points. Nicholas Petersen, Christian Morin, Tomas Jurco, and Stephen MacAulay all scored for the Dogs.

The big reason why the Rocket failed in this game is because of their power play. Saint John didn’t help their own cause by taking eight penalties on the night including a five minute major by Danick Gauthier. PEI could not convert on any of the chances and really did not have many great shots or scoring opportunities.

Saint John went 1/5 on the power play.

It was an uneventful first period early on. Steven Anthony got called for hooking at 2:13. The Rocket had no good chances on the power play with Saint John’s defense having a rather easy time.

Brendan Wright of the Rocket had the first good chance on a wrist shot from bellow the dot. The mid range shot went wide and off the post behind Marco Cousineau and stayed out.

Jared Struthers got called at 6:11 to give the Dogs a power play. The man advantage turned more physical than offensive, with Jordan Southorn throwing Jonathan Huberdeau into the net. Then Yann Sauve laid a hip check on Samson Mahbod at the red line.

Just after the power play ended at 8:24, Zach Phillips made his presence on the top line known. Phillips went from in front of the Sea Dogs net to the opposing blue line. Just inside the line, he fed Nicholas Petersen who went forehand-to-backhand on Evan Mosher to make it 1-0.

Simon Despres then fed Huberdeau at the faceoff circle but was stopped by Mosher with the glove. After Nathan Beaulieu got called at 11:47, the Sea Dogs put together a great penalty kill and easily killed off the chance for the Rocket.

Stanislav Galiev almost had a breakaway but was held up nicely by a Rocket defender and had the puck chipped off his stick. Louis-Philippe Lacroix did the same by making a nice play in the PEI zone to rob Huberdeau of a good scoring chance by sweeping the puck off his stick.

Saint John started to take over play from here on in in the first. Galiev almost gave Petersen a wide open net to score on via a cross crease pass but had the puck deflected away. Mosher made a risky play shortly after, coming out of his crease to the hash marks to poke check a Huberdeau loose puck away.

Shots after one were 9-8 Saint John.

The Rocket put the pressure on the Sea Dogs early in the second period. Josh Currie passed to Southorn from below the icing line but was denied by a huge pad stop by Cousineau. Struthers was then sent in on a breakaway and looked to be going five-hole on the Saint John net minder but Cousineau shut the door to keep the Rocket scoreless.

Huberdeau took two for slashing at 7:06. The best chance was for Saint John while shorthanded, as Danick Gauthier was stopped by Mosher who also gobbled up the rebound.

At 8:35, Gauthier was tossed from the game after a knee-on-knee hit in the neutral zone on Jordan Southorn. Rocket therapist Kevin Elliot came out to a have look as he laid on the ice throbbing his knee. He was helped off the ice by his teammates. He returned a few minutes later.

Out of that, the Rocket were awarded a five minute power play. Two other plyers were given roughing calls after a scrum ensued after the hit.

Washington Capitals prospect Benjamin Casavant had the best chance when he had an open net in front but was robbed by a quick Cousineau throwing his hands up. Then Lacroix was also stopped in close as the Rocket had good pressure on the man advantage.

The Rocket power play ended when Casavant took down Aiden Kelly with a hook. On the four-on-four, Christian Morin made it a 2-0 Sea Dogs lead on a backhand shot that he sent upstairs over Mosher at 13:05.

Petersen got called at 15:44 for a hook, giving PEI yet another power play. Adam Polasek hit the post on a shot which deflected down and sat on the goal line before staying out. That was the best chance for the Rocket although they finally managed to get some puck control going on.

Saint John made it 3-0 on the power play at 18:58. Simon Despres sent a shot around the boards which forced Mosher to go behind his net. The puck hit the lip of the zamboni door though, bouncing in front to Tomas Jurco who deposited an easy goal into the empty cage.

The Sea Dogs were not down there though. Stephen MacAulay took a pass from down low and beat Mosher high in the corner on a backhander in the slot area. That was MacAulay’s eighth of the year from Beaulieu and Kelly.

Shots in the middle frame were 14-8 Saint John.

The third period was about as exciting as walking around the CCC concourse - blah.

Polasek took a hooking call early. Saint John had some great control and puck movement but could not get any good shots off. With the power play over, Galiev had a partial break as he broke down the wing but he missed on his opportunity.

Kelly went to the box at 4:55, but the Rocket were held without a goal again despite some pressure. Cousineau came up big at times, but the Sea Dogs were never really fooled by the Rocket offense and seemed to always have control of the play.

At 15:36, Michael Kirkpatrick went to the box. While shorthanded, Jurco had a solid shorthanded chance for the Dogs but was denied on his backhand chance. The game finished with some rough stuff in the crease area in the dying minutes but nothing came of it.

Shots in the third were 10-7 Rocket.

TOMORROW: 2010 Sea Dogs playoff tickets for game one and game two of the first round go on sale tomorrow at 12:00 pm at Harbour Station and online. The dates for the games are Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20. Both are against the PEI Rocket.

NEXT GAME: Let’s do it one more time. The Sea Dogs end the regular season in Wildtown on Sunday night at 8:00 pm against the Wildcats. Note the start time as it has been adjusted to accommodate Rogers Sportsnet, RDS, and the NHL Network.