STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 2, Wildcats 5
MONCTON – It wasn’t the way the Saint John Sea Dogs wanted to end the season. But it will do.
The Sea Dogs fell 5-2 to the Moncton Wildcats in front of a national television audience on Sunday night at the Moncton Coliseum. The tilt had a bit of everything with goals, some fast play, some boring play, some records and personal stats, and even some controversy to end the match.
Both teams clearly didn’t have the same passion that fans have seen this season between the two. Moncton and Saint John had nothing to gain in the game other then padding their stats and gaining some kind of momentum leading to the post-season.
Scoring both Saint John goals was Tomas Jurco. Moncton markers came from Daniel Pettersson, Gabriel Bourque, Mark Barberio, and Marek Hrivik.
Right off the bat Spencer Metcalf and Danick Gauthier got into a scrap. It was a short bout that started after Gauthier laid an elbow on Metcalf, giving Moncton a power play. The Wildcats had a few shots but no good chances.
Gabriel Bourque had the first real chance but was stopped in close by Marco Cousineau. But at 3:25 Daniel Pettersson accepted a pass that put him ahead of the defense. Pettersson went forehand-to-backhand and beat Cousineau upstairs to make it 1-0 Moncton.
Saint John went to the power play at 10:57. On the man advantage, the Sea Dogs could not get anything going right and had no good chances. Moncton was outshooting the Dogs 5-0 halfway through the first.
At 17:05, Simon Despres slashed Gabriel Bourque who was in all alone. Bourque was awarded a questionable penalty shot on the play and beat Cousineau on a deke to the backhand to make it a 2-0 Moncton lead. The goal had Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant upset.
After David Savard took a tripping call at 17:55, Saint John found the score sheet. Michael Kirkpatrick fired a shot from just above the faceoff dot. The shot hit Brandon Gormley in front of the net and deflected to Tomas Jurco at the side of the net. His 25th of the season tied a Sea Dogs rookie record for goals in a season.
Moncton dominated the shots departed, outshooting the Dogs 11-4 in the first.
Cousineau looked shaky to start the second. On a Moncton dump-in, Cousineau made the easy pad save but allowed a huge rebound with Kirill Kabanov almost getting a hold of the disc.
Yann Sauve, he leads the Sea Dogs in points against Moncton this season, broke through the defense on a great play but could only get a weak wrist shot off on Nicola Riopel.
Moncton started to get some great pressure after Sauve’s opportunity. The Wildcats held the puck for several minutes and forced Saint John to work hard on defense. Nicolas Deschamps had a great wraparound chance but Cousineau was able to recover and make the save.
Kabanov had a great chance after that, feeding one of the Saulnier brothers in front. Saulnier was left all alone while streaking down the wing towards the net but was robbed by the leather of the Saint John net minder.
Shots in the middle frame were 11-8 for the home team, with Sauve taking the only penalty in the period at 19:37 after putting a hold on Kabanov.
On the power play to open the third, Deschamps sent a cross crease pass to Mark Berberio who deposited his 16th of the year into the empty net at 0:54.
Zach Phillips then had a good chance for the Sea Dogs as he dangled around the ‘Cats defense to the icing line beside the Moncton goal. He then fed Steven Anthony in front but he whiffed on the chance to score.
Moncton made it a 4-1 game at 5:21. Marek Hrivik came streaking down the wing along the boards and wired a shot on Cousineau. The puck hit Pierre Durepos’ stick (mad props to Sportsnet on the camera work) and went upstairs short side on Cousineau.
It was all Moncton for a large amount of time following the goal. After some time, Saint John slowly started to get back in the game with some pressure the other way.
Then some controversy hit at 15:10. Scott Trask came across the blue line and gave a vicious elbow to an unsuspecting Aiden Kelly as he was crossing the line. Kelly fell on the ice unstantly and eventually left the game with team therapis Jeff Kelly. Christian Morin got in a small tussle with Trask after the hit.
Trast was thrown out and the Sea Dogs were given a five minute power play. On the man advantage, Jurco beat Chris DiDomenico’s rookie scoring record by netting his 26th of the year. It was an easy one, as he accepted a pass in front with a wide open cage.
With Cousineau on the bench for the extra attacker, Barberio picked off a loose puck at the blue line and scored into the empty net to ice this one.
Moncton had a few good chances late, with Pettersson denied on the door step and then Savard stoned on a partial break.
Shots in the third were 17-11 Moncton for a game total of 39-23 in favour of the ‘Cats.
NOTES: For more on tonight’s game and the details surrounding it, sea Station Nation tomorrow afternoon.
TOMORROW: The fifth annual Sea Dogs Awards Banquet goes tomorrow night at the Delta Brunswick Hotel at 6:00 pm.
NEXT GAME: Game one of the first round of the playoffs goes on Friday at Harbour Station vs the PEI Rocket. Game time is 7:30 pm.
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