SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS – TIGRES GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Victoriaville 2, Saint John 4
Saint John Goals: Michael Kirkpatrick (7, 8), Mike Hoffman (5), and Mike Thomas (3)
Victoriaville Goals: Brandon Hynes (1) and Guillaume Goulet (3)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (9-1-0)
Losing Goaltender: VIC – Kevin Poulin (8-3-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Nicholas Petersen

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Tigres: 0/2, Sea Dogs: 1/4
Shots on Goal: Tigres: 11+7+11=29, Sea Dogs: 7+12+13=32
Attendance: 5,217

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Kevin Gagne missed the game with a knee injury. According to Tim Roszell on The Afternoon News with Tom Young yesterday, Gagne will likely be out until game four next Friday.

Tyrone Sock, Aiden Kelly, Will Johnston, and Chuckie Schembri were all healthy scratches.

SLOW START, GOOD FINISH
Fleaburn said it best on his Facebook page: “Slow start great finish.”

The Victoriaville Tigres came out of the gate flying and had control of the puck for most of the first half of the first period. An nfortunate bounce off a skate and a one timer off a faceoff gave the Tigres a 2-0 lead.

But Saint John battled back, taking control and staying calm for the remainder of the game.

"They came out with a real high tempo and a real (good) pace,'' Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal. "We had to bring our work level up and fortunately, for us, we brought (it up) in the second and third periods."

Michael Kirkpatrick scored to make it 2-1 after one. Mike Hoffman beat Poulin thanks to a nice pass from Stanislav Galiev in the third. Then Mike Thomas’ innocent looking wrist shot fooled the Tigres net minder to give the Dogs the lead. Kirkpatrick got the insurance marker with a couple minutes to go.

"They really played well in the first and completely controlled us,” said Gallant. “We played too much of the first period in our zone and we didn't get the puck out, and finally we started chipping pucks past their defencemen and started getting some odd-man rushes and putting some pressure on them.''

"We played our game in the second and third and we didn't give them much,'' Nicholas Petersen said. "That's how we have to play the rest of the series. We had some adversity tonight and we answered, so we're happy about that.''

MIKE’S NIGHT
All three goal scorers have the same first name: Michael Kirkpatrick, Mike Hoffman, and Mike Thomas.

There was only one other player named Michael in the game, and that was Victoriaville’s Philip-Michael Devos.

SOLID SPECIAL TEAMS
A big issue entering the series was believed to be whether or not Saint John could handle the Tigres’ superior special teams.

The Sea Dogs passed their first test, keeping Victoriaville off the score sheet on the power play. In fact, Saint John only took two penalties all game, a far cry from 10-plus that were being called in the Gatineau series.

Saint John managed to get a goal on one of their four their man advantage opportunities. Victoriaville boasts the best penalty kill in the league.

The officials let the two team’s play and let lots of stuff go. That included a bizarre play involving Mike Hoffman and Samuel Groulx in the first period that can be seen in the picture.

PRE-GAME GARBAGE
The video screen was raised and a fire truck entered through the Harbour Station zamboni door as the pre-game festivities began. The truck really didn’t do anything other than turn its lights on. Nice to know the truck wasn’t needed elsewhere.

The Sea Dogs Foundation awarded several firefighters an enormous cheque.

GOOD GOALTENDING
Both goaltenders put on a clinic in this one. Marco Cousineau was stellar, stopping 27 shots to pick up his eighth straight playoff win.

Kevin Poulin was also trying to get his eighth straight win but could not stop all of the 32 shots he faced. The New York Islanders draft pick played in both regular season games against Saint John. He also made his regular season debut at Harbour Station on September 25.

HISTORY IS WITH US
History is now on the Saint John Sea Dogs’ side following the game one win. In Saint John’s six previous playoff series’, the winner of game one has won the series.

In series’ where the Dogs have lost the first game, they have been swept.

BUMPY RIDE
Following the LMFAO (what?) concert at Harbour Station on Thursday night, the ice was defiantly not at its best. The puck bounced over sticks and passes were not as crisp as they should have been.

The ice tonight will not be much better with it being covered until 5:00 pm today due to the Kids Exploratorium.

“3,000-4,000 expected to attend today's Exploratorium Interactive Kids Fair at Harbour Station,” reported Bernard Cormier on Twitter this morning. “Event runs 12 noon-5 pm.”

But Cormier tweeted back this afternoon:

“I estimate there are about 5,000 people enjoying the Exploratorium at Harbour Station! The circus show is on now!”

WOUNDED SOLDIERS
Steven Anthony returned to the Sea Dogs lineup following a groin injury that has kept him out of action for all but two playoff games.

Brandon Hynes has been batteling injuries in the post-season as well but was in the Tigres’ lineup.

During the game, Nicholas Petersen took a slap shot in the leg, Nicholas Pard went awkwardly into the corner, and Nathan Beaulieu spat out some drops of blood after taking an shoulder to the face. All stayed in the game.

BRENDAN’S BACK
Dancin’ fool Brendan was back to his usual post in section “t” following a brief break. He was named the fan of the game.

Rally Towels were given out at the door along with Tomas Jurco Bell Aliant hockey cards. Old Dutch chips gave away snacks to munch on after the game.

SEADOGSTV HIGHLIGHTS


QUICK HITS
Steven Anthony is a -2 in the three playoff games he has appeared in this season… Jonathan Huberdeau had his goal-per-game pace broken… former Sea Dog Alexandre Labonte was in the house. Labonte was traded from Saint John to Victoriaville during the 2006-07 trading period… the crowd of 5,217 is the biggest of the playoffs so far in Saint John… there were a couple groups of Tigres fans scattered around the building… the score of the Moncton game was booed once again… Victoriaville leading scorer Philip-Michael Devos was held off the score sheet and was a -2… 13 NHL drafted players played in this game.

NEXT GAME
Game two of the best-of-seven semi-final series is tonight at 8:00 pm at the Station.