SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS –ROCKET EAGLES GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Saint John 4, PEI 0
Saint John Goals: Nicholas Petersen (39), Christian Morin (7), Tomas Jurco (24), and Stephen MacAulay (8)
PEI Goals: None
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (25-18-0)
Losing Goaltender: PEI – Evan Mosher (20-13-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Zach Phillips

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Rocket: 0/8, Sea Dogs: 1/5
Shots on Goal: Rocket: 8+14+10=32, Sea Dogs: 9+8+7=24
Attendance: 2,692

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
The Sea Dogs have been hit hard with the flu this week. Kevin Gagne headed back to Saint John while his team headed to PEI on Thursday with the flu. Mike Hoffman took the morning skate but was too ill to go to the pre-game meal, forcing him to stay back at the team hotel while his team took on the Rocket.

Steven Anthony was also sick. He took the warm-up and did play. Marco Cousineau returned for Saint John in net after missing his start on Wednesday because of the flu.

Mike Thomas served game two of his suspension.

SENDING A MESSAGE
The Saint John Sea Dogs sent a message to the PEI Rocket that when it comes down to crunch time late in the year, they are not going to lie down. The Rocket easily beat the Sea Dogs two weeks ago at Harbour Station, signaling some concern that we could have a close round one matchup on our hands.

Saint John made sure that wasn't going to happen in the final meeting between the two teams before game one of the opening round.

"These games don't mean a lot in the standings, but our team came out and played the way we wanted them to,'' Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal. "The guys stuck together and played a good game with a short lineup.''

"Tonight was a good team effort,'' Gallant said after Friday's tilt. "We didn't do anything cute, but it was a good overall effort.''

The Sea Dogs defeated the Rocket in the season series five wins to three loses. Saint John outscored PEI 24-19 in eight games against each other.

SHUTOUT TIME
Marco Cousineau knows how to make a return.

The Saint John goaltender stopped all 32 shots he faced, picking up his third shutout of the year. It was his first game back on the Island after being sent to Saint John in December for some draft picks.

“Like my father always said ‘when you get a shutout you did your job’. I stopped the puck,” said Cousineau to The Guardian newspaper. “Our PK (penalty kill) was the difference.”

Since making his Saint John debut on December 31, Cousineau has three shutouts with the team. That sets a new team record for most in one season.

"I thought (the game) was especially good for Cousineau,'' Gerard Gallant said. "He needed that for his confidence because he's been sick.''

YOUR POWER PLAY SUCKS
The PEI Rocket’s power play simply stunk last night against the Sea Dogs. The team had eight chances on the man advantage to score and failed on all of them. That included a abbreviated five minute advantage after Danick Gauthier got called for kneeing on Jordan Southorn.

“If we had connected on the power play obviously the shutout wouldn’t have happened. At least we’re getting it in the zone,” said Samson Mahbod, who skated with defending league-champion Drummondville last season. “Our power play has to be clutch. If we had four chances we knew we’d score on two. That’s what helped us win last year.”

The Rocket had some good pressure at times but really struggled on the man advantage, meaning that Saint John’s penalty kill wasn't tested that much. When PEI did get some shots off, Cousineau was there to shut the door.

GALLANT JR. CALLED UP
Gerard Gallant’s son, Jason, got called up by the Sea Dogs from the Summerside Western Capitals before the game. Gallant became the second coaches son to play for the team, with the first being Nathan Beaulieu last season. Sea Dogs’ director of hockey operations Mike Kelly also had his son at Saint John training camp for a short amount of time.

Gallant didn’t see a lot of ice time but played well when he had to with some energy. He finished the game with a stat line of zero. The 20-year old played mostly on the fourth line but saw some ice-time on the power play in the third period.

Zach Phillips took Mike Hoffman’s spot on the top line with Nicholas Petersen and Stanislav Galiev.

GAUTHIER GETS THE BOOT
Danick Gauthier got thrown out of the game in the second period after he got called for kneeing on Jordan Southorn. The Rocket forward sat on the ice while clutching his knee with team therapist Kevin Elliot, who was one of the doctors for Canada’s world junior team.

PEI was awarded a five minute power play with Gauthier receiving a major penalty. The Saint John bench was upset after the call and rightfully so. Southorn, who laid on the ice for more than two minutes, stayed on the bench and didn’t miss any action.

CRAZY GOAL
Tomas Jurco scored his easiest goal of the season in the third period. Simon Despres shot the puck around the boards where Evan Mosher came out to play the puck behind the goal. The puck hit the edge of the zamboni door and bounced out in front, where Jurco shot it into the empty net.

OUT OF TOWN
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Goalies ruled the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Friday night.

Kevin Poulin turned aside 26 shots as the Victoriaville Tigres stormed past the Lewiston Maineiacs 5-0 in QMJHL action.

The hard work of defencemen and goaltenders was rewarded across the league as four teams earned clean sheets.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles downed the Moncton Wildcats 4-0, the Saint John Sea Dogs dropped the P.E.I. Rocket 4-0, and the Shawinigan Cataractes bested the Gatineau Olympiques 2-0.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL it was: Quebec 5 Rimouski 2; Baie-Comeau 4 Chicoutimi 1; Acadie-Bathurst 6 Halifax 4; Drummondville 9 Val-d'Or 1; and Rouyn-Noranda 3 Montreal 1.

QUICK HITS
Tomas Jurco is only one goal off of tying Chris DiDomenico’s rookie record for goals in a season with 25… PEI was also battling the flu in this game… Nicholas Petersen played (pre-recorded) 20 questions with Tim Roszell on News 88.9. His pre-game ritual: Get up. Then have a nap… the Rocket have a decent player entrance now. There was an intense smoke show when the players came out before the game and before each period of play. There were lights and spot lights everywhere. The opening puck drop was delayed a short time because of the smoke… this game took a bit longer to complete than usual. Eastlink TV was broadcasting the game, meaning there were frequent commercial breaks… the Rocket, with Marco Cousineau in net, shutout the Sea Dogs 4-0 in October at the CCC… Guardian reporter Charles Reid did a live blog from the game. It took some time to get up and running due to technical glitches but it eventually worked… Nicholas Petersen’s 39 goals is a career high. He had 37 last year in 10 more games played in.

NEXT GAME
Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Sunday night tilt with the Wildcats at the Moncton Coliseum. The puck drops at 8:00 pm as the Port City’s major junior squad looks to wrap up their regular season schedule in winning fashion in front of a national audience on Rogers Sportsnet.

The game can be watched on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS in Canada. The NHL Network is picking up the game in the United States.

Station Nation will have all day pre-game coverage of the big game.