SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS –ROCKET GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: PEI 3, Saint John 1
Saint John Goals: Steven Anthony (17)
PEI Goals: Matthew Hobbs (5), Samson Mahbod (19,20)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (23-17-0)
Losing Goaltender: PEI – Evan Mosher (19-12-0)

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Rocket: 1/4, Sea Dogs: 1/3
Shots on Goal: Rocket: 8+9+10=27, Sea Dogs: 12+16+10=38
Attendance: 5,286

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Gabriel Bourret was a healthy scratch for the Sea Dogs. Jonathan Huberdeau missed the game with an upper body injury that he suffered Saturday in Rouyn-Noranda.

NO EFFORT AGAIN
It’s something that has happened a lot at Harbour Station over the past few weeks. The Sea Dogs head into a game against a opponent they should beat and put up no effort en route to a loss.

Saint John did the same thing last night as they never really even tried to get anything going offensively. The PEI Rocket did what they had to do by trapping the Sea Dogs in the neutral zone for much of the game. When they did get through, Saint John played mostly as individuals and turned the puck over very quickly.

"It's the same old thing when we lose games. Nobody shows up and it starts right from the top with your leadership, and they didn't show up,'' said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal.

"When you don't show up after you haven't played in four days and you give a performance like that in front of your fans, we got what we deserved,'' Gallant said. "There was no work ethic and a bunch of guys sulking and thinking about themselves. It's too bad they're doing that at this time of the season, but hopefully they'll learn from it.''

HARBOUR STATION BLUES
The Sea Dogs had won four straight entering the contest including a three game road sweep through Quebec. Their last home game was two weeks ago when they defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 3-2 in overtime. Before that game, the Sea Dogs put in a similar performance as the one last night against Shawinigan and lost 3-1.

Saint John has struggled at Harbour Station lately and are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 home games. Seven of their 11 regulation loses have been at home.

GOOD GOALTENDING
Both teams had solid goaltending last night.

Although Marco Cousineau allowed two goals (the third was an empty netter), the first was a screened shot and the other was off a rebound in close. The Rocket didn’t have many really good scoring chances and kept their play simple. Their best chance to score another came in the third when they sent a shot through the crease.

Even Mosher played very well in this game and made his presence known early when he completely robbed Tomas Jurco with the glove. Most of his saves were not spectacular but he played with a lot of confidence and challenged shooters, making his life easier.

"We wanted to come in and send a message before the playoffs that we can compete,'' Mosher said. "We know we're the underdogs, but it feels good to play well against them. It definitely gives us more confidence. They played well, too, but we just got some more bounces.''

"Their goaltender played really well, but our guys didn't show up,'' Gerard Gallant said.

FIRST ROUND PREVIEW
It was dubbed as a preview of the opening round of the 2010 post-season, and Saint John fans no doubt have some doubt after watching this display.

The Rocket have been pain in the Sea Dogs’ side all season. PEI has know defeated the Sea Dogs three times this year, which is almost a third of the teams loses. Saint John holds a small 20-19 scoring lead in the seven games they have played each other.

Bianca Paquette of Sports Juniors said that the Rocket will not make life easy for the Sea Dogs in round one.

The eighth and final meeting between the two goes March 12 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

BIG GUNS GO SILENT
The big line of Nicholas Petersen, Stanislav Galiev, and Mike Hoffman went to sleep Wednesday night.

Hoffman, coming off a hat trick Saturday against the Huskies, had no points and was a -1. He did have seven shots though but was in the box when the Rocket scored their opening goal.

Petersen’s stat line came across as almost the same as he was held pointless and was a -1. He only had one shot though. Galiev was also a -1 and had four shots.

ANTHONY FINALLY SCORES
After missing the last four games with a groin injury he suffered two weeks ago against Shawinigan, Steven Anthony made a great return. The Vancouver Canucks prospect scored his first goal since January 17 against Chicoutimi. Over that span, he only had one point in the form of an assist and had a minus rating in six games.

SEADOGSTV HIGHLIGHTS


QUICK HITS
The announcement was made early on in the game that Friday’s game was officially sold-out… Nicholas Petersen had the alternate captain’s “A” back on his sweater. He and Mike Hoffman are in a rotation… this was Marco Cousineau’s first game against his former team. He was traded in late December… the Sea Dogs first goal came on the power play. Gerard Gallant had a different power play unit out that included Kevin Gagne and Nathan Beaulieu at the point. The head coach often goes with one defenseman and four forwards… an excellent crowd of 5,286 watched the game on Wednesday night during March Break. For such a big crowd, the audience sat on their hands for much of the game… the Sea Dogs failed to clinch their first regular season title last night. They will try again on Friday night against Moncton.

NEXT GAME
Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Friday night showdown with the Moncton Wildcats at Harbour Station (puck drop – 7:30pm). This game has officially been sold out, with a limited number (less than 200) of standing-room-only tickets available at the arena box office (657-1234). A victory on Friday will secure Saint John home ice advantage throughout the 2010 President’s Cup Playoffs and give the Sea Dogs their first-ever QMJHL Atlantic Division title.

Fans attending Friday’s contest are encouraged to dress in green on the Sea Dogs' First Annual Irish Night, with non-perishable food items set to be collected for charity as part of the 2009-10 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup Challenge. Moncton currently leads the season-long competition 14.5 – 10.5.