ROCKET PULL OFF THE UPSET YET AGAIN

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Rocket 6, Sea Dogs 3

SAINT JOHN – It was another disturbing loss to the Prince Edward Island Rocket.

The Rocket dropped the top ranked Saint John Sea Dogs 6-3 on Saturday night at Harbour Station in a bizarre game. PEI fell behind, took a big lead, and then almost lost it.

But the disturbing fact lies behind the score sheet. The Sea Dogs have now lost 13 regulation games this season, four of them being against PEI. Another strange note is that three of those four wins have been at Harbour Station, a venue that the home team has lost only eight times at.
With the victory, the Rocket tie the best-of-seven round one series at one game apiece. Game three goes Tuesday night at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. Saint John is 0-1 all-time in game five games with this being the first round on match that has gone more than four games.

PEI used some kind of mystical powers to defeat the number one team in the QMJHL. It wasn’t that the Sea Dogs played bad for most of the night, but they just didn’t play their game, something that cost the Rocket in game one on Friday night.

Saint John took six penalties on the night with PEI scoring once. With so many penalties taken throughout the game, the Dogs seemed to be dysfunctional and didn’t play in sync with each other. There were all lot of missed passes and unorganized plays on the night which is not something the Dogs have been known for this year.

But the Rocket need to be given a lot of credit. They played the way they needed to play in order to beat the Sea Dogs. PEI was able to withstand the Sea Dogs’ storm thanks to some sensational play from starting goaltender Evan Mosher. PEI took advantage on their chances, beating the Sea Dogs on their own mistakes in the defensive zone.

Jarrad Struthers and Benjamin Casavant netted two for the winners while singles came from Louis-Philippe Lacroix and Jonathan Bonneau. Saint John got goals from Zach Phillips, Nicholas Petersen, and Mike Hoffman.

Mosher made 44 saves in net while Marco Cousineau stopped 30 of 35 shots he faced.

Saint John went 1/6 on the power play.

FIRST PERIOD
The pace inthe first period was excellent with both teams trading chances. The first whistle of the game didn’t come until the game was over five minutes old.

Chuckie Schembri, making his Saint John debut, missed his man at the blue line and collided hard with his team mate Zach Phillips. Both would be okay.

At 7:28 Samson Mahbod went to the box for PEI. Saint John had some good control and pressure with the puck on the power play. Tomas Jurco had the best chance in front but couldn’t jam in the puck. Kevin Gagne took a holding penalty at 10:49 but the Rocket couldn’t capitalize.

With Michael Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Huberdeau in the box at 18:31, Jarrad Strauthers was robbed at the side of the net with a huge glove save by Cousineau. Eric Bouchard had another good chance just as the buzzer sounded by the Saint John net minder extended his leg to make the block.

Shots in the first were 15-11 for the Port City.

SECOND PERIOD
Jonathan Bonneau hit Nicholas Petersen at the blue line at 3:00 and got called for interference. On the man advantage, Kirkpatrick sent a shot from the faceoff circle that was stopped by Mosher but the puck floated behind the goaltender. The puck was batted out of the air by Petersen but it sat on the line and didn’t cross.

On the same power play, Zach Phillips opened up the scoring at 4:56. Phillips looked like he was going to pass but shot instead, beating Mosher five hole from just below the faceoff dot.

At 12:16, Struthers and Simon Despres took penalties. Then at 13:37, Nathan Beaulieu took a questionable boarding penalty. PEI called a time-out to work out a game plan for the four-on-three chance and it seemed to work.

Struthers tied the game at 14:26 after a wrist shot from the faceoff circle was stopped by Cousineau. Struthers picked up the rebound and beat the former Rocket goalie down low. Cousineau looked to be interfered with and the goal went under a lengthy review but the call stood.

Less than a minute later at 15:09, a point shot was deflected in by Washington Capitals prospect Benjamin Casavant to give the Rocket their first lead of the series. The goal went under review to see of it was put in with a high stick but was ruled a goal.

After a solid Saint John penalty kill, PEI increased their lead to two goals. Jonathan Bonneau sent a wrist shot on goal from just inside the blue line that beat a screened Cousineau to make it a 3-1 PEI lead.

Shots in the middle stanza were 16-12 Rocket.

THIRD PERIOD
After an awful power play by the Sea Dogs came to an end, Jonathan Huberdeau gave a no look pass from behind the net to Stephen MacAulay but was denied by Mosher.

At 11:27, Struthers scored his second of the game to give PEI a big 4-1 lead. After a turnover, the Rocket broke in on a two-on-one with Pierre Durepos the only man back. Struthers kept the puck and beat Cousineau on a hard wrist shot over the glove.

As if a three goal lead wasn’t bad enough for the Dogs, just 16 seconds later Casavant scored on a broken play by beating Cousineau on a weak little wrist shot that snuck through. As the Rocket players rejoiced in the corner, Sea Dogs fans headed for the exit.

But hold on. With just under seven minutes to go, Jordon Southorn absolutely rocked Schembri along the boards. It was a massive hit that featured the 19-year old Saint John call-up going head-over-heels. Southorn was given a major penalty and a game misconduct.

On that power play, Petersen found the back of the net at 15:34 for his first of the post-season. Petersen managed to find the loose puck on a scramble in front and beat a flopping Mosher in his crease.

Jurco had a good chance in close but was stopped followed by Mosher robbing Kirkpatrick with the leather.

But Hoffman finally beat Mosher at 17:40 with a points shot that somehow got through a large amount of traffic. On the same play, head coach Gerard Gallant put Cousineau on the bench in exchange for Karel St. Laurent in order to give his team a small time-out.

With St. Laurent on the bench, Jurco had a wide open cage on a one timer but Mosher came up huge with a cross crease pad save.

PEI iced the game at 18:51 when Louis-Philippe Lacroix sent a long floater towards the empty Saint John goal to make it a 6-3 final.

NOTES: See Station Nation later today for all the notes from a wild one at Harbour Station.

NEXT GAME: Game three goes Tuesday in Charlottetown in a the now best-of-five series. Game time is 7:00 pm.