STATION NATION RECAPFINAL: Sea Dogs 2, Tigres 4
VICTORIAVILLE – The party was put on hold for the Saint John Sea Dogs Saturday evening in Victoriaville.
Saint John fell 4-2 to the Tigres at Colisee Desjardins, failing to clinch a spot in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finals. The Dogs still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 entering game six on Monday at Harbour Station.
The story of the game was Kevin Poulin in the Tigres’ goal. The newly turned 20-year old stood on his head, stopping 43 of 45 shots that the Sea Dogs threw his way. But Poulin was also the story for another reason. Following a collision in his crease, the Victoriaville net minder clearly pulled something and could hardly skate for the remainder of the game. He did stay in, but left with 23 seconds remaining.
The Sea Dogs threw everything at the goaltender, including five power play chances that were all denied.
Joel Chouinard, Yannick Dube, Philip-Michael Devos, and Tomas Kubalik scored for the winners.
Stanislav Galiev and Yann Sauve scored for Saint John. Marco Cousineau, who also played solid, made 24 saves in net for the Dogs.
Victoriaville went 0/4 on the power play.
FIRST PERIOD
Following a fast pace few minutes of back-and-forth action, the Tigres opened the scoring at 2:47. Joel Chouinard let a point shot go through traffic that found its way past Marco Cousineau in the Saint John goal to make it a 1-0 game.
Samuel Groulx took two for interference at 3:24. Saint John looked good on the power play as they desperately tried to tie the tilt. Tomas Jurco sent a cross ice pass to Michael Kirkpatrick but his shot was deflected away by Kevin Poulin.
Andrej Nestrasil looked like a man on mission moments after the penalty expired. The import made a great deke to get around Christian Morin but could not get much of a shot off on his solo rush.
Mike Thomas, fresh off a one-game suspension, hammered Olivier Jannard into the boards behind the net. Jannard lay on the ice for several minutes before leaving the game.
Victoriaville got their revenge on Thomas at 6:39. Yannick Dube tried to center the puck from behind the net but the disc hit a Saint John player in front. The puck bounced past Cousineau to make it 2-0.
Kirkpatrick got called high sticking at 8:18 but the Tigres could not get any good shots off on the P.P. When the power play expired, Cousineau made a huge cross crease pad save to keep the Dogs close in the period.
Saint John managed to get some pressure going after they failed to score on a power play opportunity. Mike Hoffman let a wrist shot go that was stopped, followed by Zach Phillips and Morin buzzing around the Tigres’ cage.
The hard work paid off for the Dogs at 19:31. Yann Sauve let a point shot go through the traffic with Poulin blocking it down in front. Stanislav Galiev was there in the crease to bang home the garbage and to get Saint John back within one after one.
Shots in the first were 15-14 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
Hoffman and Galiev entered the zone on a two-on-one to start the new period. Hoffman chose to keep and shoot, with Poulin going down to make the save. Saint John then began to take over.
Simon Despres let a backhand shot go that was stopped, with the rebound just getting by the stick of Jurco with an empty net. Kirkpatrick then fed Jonathan Huberdeau who was skating hard towards the goal but tipped the puck right on Poulin.
Nicholas Petersen gave Huberdeau some redemption moments later, sending the rookie in on a break. Huberdeau went to his backhand but saw shot kept out.
Emmanuel Boudreau headed to the box at 8:09. It was all Saint John on the man advantage, with Jurco ripping a shot on Poulin, Kirkpatrick firing wide, and finally Hoffman ripping a onetime shot on goal. Poulin stood tall though, keeping his teams lead intact.
Joel Champagne went off at 9:46 after tripping Hoffman. After a time-out, Saint John went to work. Huberdeau was sprung on a break again and tried his usual move to a backhand but ran out of room. The 16-year old ran into Poulin and received a goalie interference penalty.
But while shorthanded, Danick Gauthier was sprung on a break. Gauthier went to the forehand and let loose a shot that was blockered away by Poulin. The draft eligible Sea Dog also had his rebound stopped by the pad of the Tigres’ net minder.
Will Johnston kept the Saint John offense machine rolling, going in on a partial break but ran out of room to make a move.
Chris Doyle was called for hooking at 14:49 but the Dogs could not get anything going. Following the two minute span, Saint John began to dominate the play once again, holding control of the puck for several minutes.
Just before Tomas Jurco got called for high sticking at 19:58, Brandon Hynes had a wide open net with Cousineau out of position but hit the outside of the post.
Shots in the middle stanza were 17-9 for the visitors.
THIRD PERIOD
Yann Sauve was hooked on a breakaway just 47 seconds into the third period. The defenseman was awarded a penalty shot and beat Poulin over the blocker to tie the game 2-2.
But Victoriaville got the lead right back at 2:59. Boudreau sent a low pass from the point through traffic that found Philip-Michael Devos at the side of the net. Devos made no mistake to give Victoriaville a 3-2 lead.
Schembri got called for boarding at 6:40. On the man advantage, Chouinard was left alone in the slot but wired a wrist shot off the post. The penalized Schembri then came out of the box on a partial break but was robbed by the leather of Poulin.
Brandon Hynes then had a good chance for the Tigres, performing a nice toe-drag only to have Cousineau make the save.
Saint John quickly tried to mount a comeback. Petersen dropped for Gauthier but was denied by the blocker of the Tigres goaltender once again. Then Simon Despres pounced on a rebound in front while being hugged by Boudreau. The two glided over Poulin, forcing him into an awkward position.
Victoriaville’s training staff came out to check on Poulin, who appeared to have pulled something in his groin or high leg area. Despite wincing and bending over in pain, he stayed in the game.
The injured net minder was not challenged that much after he took back to the blue paint. Galiev had the best chance on a turnover in front but couldn’t get a shot on net.
With Cousineau out of the Saint John goal for the extra attacker, Galiev lost the puck behind the net where Tomas Kubalik picked it up and netted his fourth of the post-season. That made it a 4-2 final.
Following the goal, Antonio Mastropietro came in for Poulin in the Tigres goal.
Shots in the third were 13-5 Saint John.
After the final buzzer, Christian Morin, Stephen MacAulay, and Yann Sauvé all got penalties for Saint John following a big scrum behind the Victoriaville goal. Philip-Michaël Devos, Pierre-Luc Pelletier, and Yannick Dubé were all given penalties for the Tigres.
NOTES: Check out Station Nation tomorrow for all the information from this game.
NEXT GAME: Game six is Monday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
TICKETS: Tickets to game six are available now on the Harbour Station website. The box office will be open Sunday afternoon from 12:00 to 5:00 pm.
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