VICTO STRIKES BACK

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Tigres 6

VICTORIAVILLE – We have a series.

The Victoriaville Tigres jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game three of the semi-final series against the Saint John Sea Dogs and went on to victory.

The Sea Dogs managed to get three back and make it interesting, but the Tigres proved too powerful. Saint John dropped their first playoff game in 10 tries and also picked up their first road loss of the post-season.

Saint John’s sluggish start and attempted comeback was thanks in much part to taking so many penalties, getting the Dogs out of their rhythm. Victoriaville went 3/7 on the power play while the Sea Dogs went a perfect 3/3.

The Tigres were outshot 46-45 by the Dogs.

FIRST PERIOD
Saint John had one of their best chances early on when Nicholas Petersen was stopped. Then Travis McIsaac of the Tigres was stoned by the glove of Marco Cousineau.

Will Johnston went off for tripping at 2:44. On the power play, Chris Doyle had his point shot deflected beautifully in front but couldn’t find the net. Saint John produced a solid penalty kill after that.

Joel Champagne had control of the puck on a Tigres two-on-one and decided to keep and shoot. The Maple Leafs prospect was stopped easily by Cousineau however.

Victoriaville made it 1-0 at 7:07. Cousineau made the original stop but the puck squirted out to no man’s land. Philippe Maillot slipped the backhander into the empty net to give the Tigres their third straight 1-0 lead.

Mike Thomas headed off for charging after he nailed Keven Dupont along the boards, giving him a bloody nose. The call had Gerard Gallant upset behind the Dogs' bench, and even more furious at 7:46 when Nicholas Pard went off for roughing.

On the two man power play, Chris Doyle blasted a point shot that beat the Saint John net minder low to give the home team a two goal lead.

Not long after at 13:55, Samuel Groulx unleashed a point shot that produced a short rebound to the lip of the crease. Philip-Michael Devos picked up the rebound to give the Tigres a very dangerous and commanding 3-0 lead.

Zach Phillips finally led a Saint John scoring chance, trying to go short side on Kevin Poulin but was denied. Then at 17:13, Stanislav Galiev was called for high sticking but the Dogs would kill this one off.

Victoriaville owned Saint John in the first, firing 22 shots to the Sea Dogs’ six.

SECOND PERIOD
Saint John got off to a good start in the second. Mike Hoffman made a fantastic move to get around a defenseman but Poulin stood tall in his crease to make the save. Pard then set up Johnston down low but was stopped by the Tigres net minder.

Following matching roughing penalties at 3:41, the Sea Dogs had some great pressure on the four-on-four. Their best chance came when Michael Kirkpatrick wristed a shot on Poulin down low but was kept out.

With Galiev in the box at 6:42, the Sea Dogs almost scored to get back in the game. Hoffman picked off the puck and entered the zone, only to wire his shot over the goal.

Victoriaville dug the Sea Dogs’ grave deeper when Champagne found the back of the net at 9:21. The Toronto prospect centered the puck through crease and went off Christian Morin’s leg and by Cousineau to make it 4-0.

But on the power play at 10:41, Simon Despres stopped the downpour briefly by netting his first career playoff goal. The “Big Horse” crept in from the blue line and let loose a powerful backhand shot over the glove of Poulin to make it 4-1.

The goal seemed to spark the Dogs with Morin letting a blast go that was stopped followed by Hoffman having two consecutive chances in the Victoriaville crease area.

That pressure ended at 16:18 when Zach Phillips was issued to the sin bin for a high stick. The Tigres made the Dogs pay, with McIsaac picking up a Joel Chouinard rebound to make it 5-1 after two periods.

The Dogs battled back in the shots on goal category, outshooting the Tigres 19-13 in the frame.

THIRD PERIOD
Backup goaltender Karel St. Laurent came in to start the third for the Sea Dogs. He was busy early, stopping Champagne twice in close.

Emmanuel Boudreau tripped Hoffman 53 seconds in. As the Tigre headed to the box, Hoffman was slapped with a 10-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike. It didn’t bother the Dogs at all as Kirkpatrick blasted a shot that went over the glove of Poulin to make it a 5-2 game on the P.P.

Just when it looked like Victoriaville would continue their cruise to a win, Brandon Hynes headed off at 3:00. On the power play again, Yann Sauve let loose a point shot that deflected off the pad of Poulin and slowly slid across the goal line to make it 5-3. The goal was reviewed, but ruled to be legit.

Saint John started to really put the pressure on following the two goals. Tomas Jurco had a good chance in front, followed by Pierre Durepos, Sauve, and Johnston all having opportunities.

But it was all for not as Kirkpatrick took a roughing penalty at 12:35. Devos picked up a puck that bounced off the backboards, allowing him to dish it into the open cage to make it a three goal game again at 13:26.

The Sea Dogs tried but couldn’t respond, dropping game three 6-3.

Shots in the third were 21-10 Saint John.

NOTES: Lots of things to look at tomorrow in post-game notebook.

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