SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

SEA DOGS – TIGRES GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Saint John 3, Victoriaville 6
Saint John Goals: Simon Despres (1), Michael Kirkpatrick (9), and Yann Sauve (2)
Victoriaville Goals: Philippe Maillot (6), Chris Doyle (4), Philip-Michael Devos (7, 8), Joel Champagne (7), and Travis McIsaac (7),
Winning Goaltender: VIC – Kevin Poulin (9-4-0)
Losing Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (10-2-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Simon Despres

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Tigres: 3/7, Sea Dogs: 3/3
Shots on Goal: Tigres: 22+13+10=45, Sea Dogs: 6+19+21=46
Attendance: 2,587

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Kevin Gagne missed last night’s game with a knee injury and did not make the trip according to Tim Roszell. Gabriel Bourret will take his place on the blue line again. It was the seventh straight missed playoff tilt for Gagne.

Steven Anthony’s groin has acted up again, forcing him to the sidelines once more. Will Johnston took his place in the lineup.

Tyron Sock did not make the trip. Aiden Kelly and Chuckie Schembri were both healthy scratches.

A GAME TO FORGET
It wasn’t the way the Saint John Sea Dogs wanted to open up their lengthy road venture in Victoriaville.

The Tigres wrecked the Sea Dogs 6-3 in game three of their best-of-seven playoffs series. Saint John still leads the series though, 2-1.

Although there were not anywhere near the amount of penalties taken in the Gatineau series, the Sea Dogs found themselves shorthanded a lot which is something the team struggles with.

Victoriaville opened up the scoring at 7:07 of the first period. Hope was not lost though, with the Tigres scoring the first goal in both games one and two which the Dogs won. But then it became 2-0, and then 3-0 after one. Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant was not too happy on the bench, feeling many of the penalties in in the frame were not legit.

Victoriaville looked to have put the nail in the coffin of the Dogs at 9:21 of the second, leading 4-0. Following Simon Despres’ power play marker, The Tigres made it a 5-1 game after 40 minutes.

But hang on. Saint John scored two quick goals to make it a 5-3 game. The Dogs were all over the Tigres for several minutes and looked like they were determined to tie it up. But Michael Kirkpatrick took an undisciplined roughing penalty, and Victo’ responded on the man advantage.
Both teams have two days off to regroup.

BIG HIT; LEAGUE REVIEWING
The Tigres’ Keven Dupont, who took four minor penalties on Saturday in game two, was hammered face first into the boards by Mike Thomas at 7:28 of the first period. Thomas was given a two minute charging minor for the hit, a call that came several moments after the hit.

Dupont sat on the ice for several minutes with the Tigres’ trainer. A report today by a Victoriaville newspaper says that the 20-year old broke his nose on the play. He is questionable for Friday’s game.

La Nouvelle/L’Union reports that the league is reviewing the hit.

Coincidently, QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau was in the house for the game.

SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS
Both the Sea Dogs and Tigres had their power play up and running in the game. Saint John went an amazing 3/3 on the power play - this against a Victoriaville team that led the league in penalty killing efficiency during the regular season.

The Sea Dogs struggled on the penalty kill, allowing three goals on seven chances. The Tigres were ranked second among power play units in the league this season.

VICTO WAS PUMPED
The city of Victoriaville was ready for this one. The Colisee Desjardins had white towels seating on its seats when fans entered the facility. It was not a sell-out, but the crowd of 2,587 was 86.3% of the buildings capacity.

The Colisee also has a bizarre looking penalty box for the visiting team with a clear plastic tent placed over it.

ANTHONY ON THE MIC
The injured Steven Anthony joined Tom Roszell on News 88.9 last night to do colour commentating. The Vancouver Canucks prospect - who we dubbed as the future of Canucks radio - did a solid job during his air time. He left midway through the second period with a shout out to his grandmother.

BIG ONE FOR THE BIG HORSE
Despite playing in 29 previous playoff games, Simon Despres finally netted the first goal of his post-season career in the second period last night. Despres already has 12 assists in 12 playoff games so far this year.

DOGS FANS REPRESENTING

HUGE NIGHT FOR DEVOS
From QMJHL.ca:

PHILIP-MICHAËL DEVOS (VIC) – he has became Tuesday night, only the 6th Tigres’ player to obtain 5 points in one playoff game.

Devos, he led the Tigres in scoring during the regular season, had two goals and three assists.

COUZY GETS YANKED
Marco Cousineau was replaced by Karel St. Laurent to start the third period.

The CHL Goaltender of the Week allowed five goals on 35 shots, meaning a goal was scored on every seventh shot by Victoriaville. Most of the goals Cousineau allowed were not his fault, but he did look a bit rattled at times and let go some juicy rebounds.

St. Laurent, who played in the Saint John’s other playoff loss, made some big saves to keep the Dogs comeback efforts alive. He faced 10 shots and allowed a goal.

PUT ON HOLD
This series will take a brief break due to a trade show being held at Colisee Desjardins today and Thursday. The Sea Dogs will stay in the Victoriaville for the break, but planned to travel to Quebec City today to party-up according to News 88.9.

Game four is Friday and game five goes Saturday.

NEW LEADER
Michael Kirkpatrick now leads the QMJHL in playoff scoring with nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points. He is tied with Devos and former Sea Dog Chris DiDomenico for the points lead but are placed second and third because of fewer goals.

NO MORE STREAKIN’
Saint John’s nine-game playoff winning streak came to an end last night. Last night’s tilt also saw the Dogs lose their first road game of the post-season and first road loss since March 14 in Moncton.

OUT OF TOWN
A wild night in Wildtown saw the Moncton Wildcats fall 2-1 in overtime to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in game three of their series. Moncton leads the best-of-seven 2-1.

Chris DiDomenico had an assist in the win. Several people told us on Twitter that he was booed every time he touched the puck.

HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights from last night’s game can be found by clicking HERE.

QUICK HITS
Saint John was put in this same situation in 2008, when they won the first two games of the series but lost the third to Bathurst. The Sea Dogs went on to win in six games… Tigres alumni Christian Laroche and Daniel Boisclair preformed the ceremonial puck drop. The two helped Victoriaville win the Presidents Cup in 2002… Saint John was outshot nearly the entire game until they pulled ahead late in the third period… The sportsman of the year, Mike Hoffman, was given an unsportsmanlike 10-minute misconduct in the third period after he was tripped. Saint John scored two goals during his absence… Hoffman went 5-15 in the faceoff dot while Joel Champagne went 18-8… no Saint John player had a plus rating.

NEXT GAME
Game four is Friday at 8:00 pm in Victoriaville.