STATION NATION RECAPFINAL: Tigres 1, Sea Dogs 5
SAINT JOHN – It wasn’t the road trip the Victoriaville Tigres were looking for.
After giving the Saint John Sea Dogs a run-for-their-money on Friday, the Tigres were wrecked at Harbour Station on Saturday.
The Sea Dogs put in one of their most dominant performances of the season, defeating the Tigres 5-1 to take a 2-0 series advantage in their semi-final best-of-seven series.
"That was one of our best efforts of the entire year,” said Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant on the Sea Dogs’ official Twitter page. “We're playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Nicholas Pard, Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev, Danick Gauthier, and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Saint John. Star forwards Nicholas Petersen and Mike Hoffman combined for only two assists.
The Dogs’ third overager, Marco Cousineau, was excellent in net again. He kept his young defense core calm during some shaky moments in the game. “Couzy” made 32 saves for his ninth straight win. Kevin Poulin faced 37 shots in the loss for the Tigres.
Newfoundlander Brandon Hynes had the lone goal for Victoriaville.
Saint John scored three goals on 11 power play chances while the Tigres went 0/5.
FIRST PERIOD
Saint John had control of the game early in the first. Michael Kirkpatrick picked up a rebound in front but was denied on a nice pad save by Kevin Poulin. Shortly after, Jonathan Huberdeau fed Nicholas Petersen on a two-on-one but sent his shot wide. To end the short burst of scoring opportunities, Petersen made a beautiful dangle to cross the blue line but wristed the puck off the crossbar.
Victoriaville started to gain momentum following the Sea Dogs’ rush of energy, wiring several shots on Marco Cousineau.
Just after Poulin made a huge glove on Stanislav Galiev, Nicholas Pard got called for tripping at 8:33. But less than a minute later, Tomas Kubalik went to the box for a hook. Saint John had some well executed passes on their short power play but failed to score.
Huberdeau almost made it 1-0 when he had the puck in the crease and a wide open cage. Somehow, the rookie managed to send just a weak backhand whistling through the blue paint.
Victoriaville struck first at 16:27. Chris Doyle sent a blind pass from the corner and found a wide open Brandon Hynes who slipped the puck into the open cage.
Philip-Michael Devos almost doubled the Tigres’ lead shortly after when he tipped a onetime pass just over the crossbar behind Cousineau.
Samuel Groulx headed to the box at 17:18 for holding. On the power play, Yann Sauve let a blast go from the point and produced a short rebound at the top of the crease. Pard was waiting on the doorstep and banged home the garbage to tie the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Shots in the first frame were 15-9 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
Nathan Beaulieu wired a slap shot just 32 second into the middle stanza. The puck found its way off Tomas Jurco’s stick and by Poulin to give Saint John a 2-1 lead.
At 3:09, Phillip Danault headed to box for a trip. The penalty proved costly as a puck squirted loose in front of the crease area. Galiev dove on his stomach and got his shot by the Victoriaville goaltender, giving the Dogs a two goal lead and forcing Galiev to give the ice a fist pump.
Following a few minutes of back-and-forth play, Pard headed off for an elbow at 9:07 and was followed by the Tigres’ Joel Champagne two seconds later.
When Pierre Durepos was done playing with a balloon that found its way to ice level, the Sea Dogs made it a 4-1 game at 11:10. The original shot looked like it would be an easy glove save for the Tigres net minder but he bobbled it. Danick Gauthier found the puck and simply flipped it over a fallen and disbelieving Poulin to extend Saint John’s lead.
The physical play turned up a notch when Gauthier started to hit everything in sight.
Petersen was almost set in on a breakaway but he missed the pass at the blue line, slamming his stick and lowering his head in anger. On the following shift, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect almost redeemed himself with another break but was caught offside at the line.
Kevin Dupont went to the box at 15:25 for a slash. The best chance on the man advantage for the Dogs came when a bad angle shot hit the post.
Kirkpatrick was awarded a penalty at 16:48, but Dupont cancelled out The Tigres power play with another slashing minor at 17:46. On the power play, Saint John had good control but couldn’t get any solid scoring chances finished off.
Shots in the second were 10-9 Sea Dogs.
Nathan Beaulieu wired a slap shot just 32 second into the middle stanza. The puck found its way off Tomas Jurco’s stick and by Poulin to give Saint John a 2-1 lead.
At 3:09, Phillip Danault headed to box for a trip. The penalty proved costly as a puck squirted loose in front of the crease area. Galiev dove on his stomach and got his shot by the Victoriaville goaltender, giving the Dogs a two goal lead and forcing Galiev to give the ice a fist pump.
Following a few minutes of back-and-forth play, Pard headed off for an elbow at 9:07 and was followed by the Tigres’ Joel Champagne two seconds later.
When Pierre Durepos was done playing with a balloon that found its way to ice level, the Sea Dogs made it a 4-1 game at 11:10. The original shot looked like it would be an easy glove save for the Tigres net minder but he bobbled it. Danick Gauthier found the puck and simply flipped it over a fallen and disbelieving Poulin to extend Saint John’s lead.
The physical play turned up a notch when Gauthier started to hit everything in sight.
Petersen was almost set in on a breakaway but he missed the pass at the blue line, slamming his stick and lowering his head in anger. On the following shift, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect almost redeemed himself with another break but was caught offside at the line.
Kevin Dupont went to the box at 15:25 for a slash. The best chance on the man advantage for the Dogs came when a bad angle shot hit the post.
Kirkpatrick was awarded a penalty at 16:48, but Dupont cancelled out The Tigres power play with another slashing minor at 17:46. On the power play, Saint John had good control but couldn’t get any solid scoring chances finished off.
Shots in the second were 10-9 Sea Dogs.
THIRD PERIOD
Victoriaville was given the chance to get back in the game when they were given a five-on-three power play with Gauthier and Stephen MacAulay in the box at 3:36. On the two men-up advantage, Cousineau came across the crease to rob Hynes of a sure goal. Then moments later Hynes had an empty net with the puck on his stick but the Saint John goaltender got the paddle down to make a tremendous save. The Sea Dogs would go on to complete the successful kill.
With Guillaume Goulet in the box at 6:26, Galiev almost made it 5-1 on a great one time chance but was stopped by Poulin. But the rookie Russian made up for it at 7:28. Galiev did some great work in the corner and made a tremendous deke to get out of harm’s way. He threaded a pass to Huberdeau in front who slipped it five-hole by Poulin to make it a four goal Saint John lead.
The Sea Dogs chose to just coast the rest of the way home and didn’t get or give up any terrific scoring opportunities.
Dupont continued his quest to become the Tigres' penalty leader when he headed off for a third time at 11:13. Saint John didn't try to much on the power play, though.
Gauthier was leveled from behind in the corner at 13:59, and who else other then Dupont would take that kind of penalty? But again, the Dogs chose to play a defensive style and sit back on their lead.
At 16:58, Chris Doyle was sent to jail for roughing. A big scrum ensued during the man advantage, but it would not matter as the Dogs took the eventual victory.
Shots in the third were 15-12 Tigres.
NOTES: Station Nation Post-Game will be posted later this afternoon.
NEXT GAME: The Dogs hit the road for game three in Victoriaville. Game time is 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins.
Gauthier was leveled from behind in the corner at 13:59, and who else other then Dupont would take that kind of penalty? But again, the Dogs chose to play a defensive style and sit back on their lead.
At 16:58, Chris Doyle was sent to jail for roughing. A big scrum ensued during the man advantage, but it would not matter as the Dogs took the eventual victory.
Shots in the third were 15-12 Tigres.
NOTES: Station Nation Post-Game will be posted later this afternoon.
NEXT GAME: The Dogs hit the road for game three in Victoriaville. Game time is 8:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins.
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