STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Wildcats 9
MONCTON – In the biggest game of the season, the Saint John Sea Dogs produced their worst game of year.
Following a disappointing game one performance, the Sea Dogs appeared fired up and ready to rebound in the series. But that certainly was not the case.
"We can't let them walk all over us like that,” said Michael Kirkpatrick after the game to the Sea Dogs’ Twitter page. “We need to come up with a much better effort on Tuesday."
The Moncton Wildcats did a lot more than walk all over the Sea Dogs – they destroyed them. The Wildcats defeated Saint John 9-3 in game two of the President’s Cup Final on Sunday afternoon at the Moncton Coliseum, taking a 2-0 series advantage.
It wasn’t close from the get go as Moncton scored three straight goals to start the game, spelling disaster for Saint John.
Randy Cameron, Gabriel Bourque, and Scott Brannon all scored two goals each on Sunday for the ‘Cats. Singles came from Kelsey Tessier, Allain Saulnier, and Simon Jodoin.
Nicola Riopel stopped 25 shots. Moncton went 3/8 on the man advantage.
Saint John’s big guns fell silent for the second straight game. There three goals came from three grinders: Danick Gauthier, Mike Thomas, and Chuckie Schembri.
Marco Cousineau allowed five goals on 19 shots before being pulled in the second period. His predecessor, Karel St. Laurent, was not much better by allowing four goals on 13 shots.
Saint John went 0/3 on the power play.
FIRST PERIOD
After some fast pace back-and-forth play, Nicholas Pard went to the box at 3:55. Mark Barberio sent a point shot in on Marco Cousineau on the man advantage. A rebound went to the side of the net where Yann Sauve dove to keep the puck out of the Saint John goal.
FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Wildcats 9
MONCTON – In the biggest game of the season, the Saint John Sea Dogs produced their worst game of year.
Following a disappointing game one performance, the Sea Dogs appeared fired up and ready to rebound in the series. But that certainly was not the case.
"We can't let them walk all over us like that,” said Michael Kirkpatrick after the game to the Sea Dogs’ Twitter page. “We need to come up with a much better effort on Tuesday."
The Moncton Wildcats did a lot more than walk all over the Sea Dogs – they destroyed them. The Wildcats defeated Saint John 9-3 in game two of the President’s Cup Final on Sunday afternoon at the Moncton Coliseum, taking a 2-0 series advantage.
It wasn’t close from the get go as Moncton scored three straight goals to start the game, spelling disaster for Saint John.
Randy Cameron, Gabriel Bourque, and Scott Brannon all scored two goals each on Sunday for the ‘Cats. Singles came from Kelsey Tessier, Allain Saulnier, and Simon Jodoin.
Nicola Riopel stopped 25 shots. Moncton went 3/8 on the man advantage.
Saint John’s big guns fell silent for the second straight game. There three goals came from three grinders: Danick Gauthier, Mike Thomas, and Chuckie Schembri.
Marco Cousineau allowed five goals on 19 shots before being pulled in the second period. His predecessor, Karel St. Laurent, was not much better by allowing four goals on 13 shots.
Saint John went 0/3 on the power play.
FIRST PERIOD
After some fast pace back-and-forth play, Nicholas Pard went to the box at 3:55. Mark Barberio sent a point shot in on Marco Cousineau on the man advantage. A rebound went to the side of the net where Yann Sauve dove to keep the puck out of the Saint John goal.
Just as the penalty kill expired for the Dogs, Mike Hoffman was stopped by Nicola Riopel on a breakaway with the pad.
Moncton made it 1-0 at 7:30. A point shot was stopped by Cousineau with Kelsey Tessier picking up the rebound. Tessier fed Gabriel Bourque with a cross crease pass and then beat the Saint John net minder upstairs to score his fourth goal of the series.
Saint John started to gain some momentum after the goal. Stanislav Galiev fed Nicholas Petersen on a two-on-one but could only get a weak shot off. After Nathan Beaulieu sent a point shot through traffic just wide, Hoffman and Galiev broke in a two-on-one but sent the disc wide also.
With the Sea Dogs still having pressure, a pass went down the ice where Christian Morin skated to grab it just inside the blue line. But Scott Brannon picked the puck off and beat Cousineau with a backhand shot through the five hole to make it 2-0 Wildcats.
Riopel was in his zone when Michael Kirkpatrick had a wide open net to his side. The Saint John forward made a nifty play to get the shot off, only to have Riopel snatch it away from him with an unreal save.
Saint John got a power play chance at 15:30 as Daniel Pettersson headed off. The Sea Dogs had some excellent pressure but could not get any shots through the Moncton defense.
At 18:34, Simon Despres had one foot in the bench door when Gabriel Bourret jumped over the boards. But the officials were sticklers on Sunday, calling Saint John for too many men. Moncton had some chances on the man advantage but could not beat Cousineau.
Shots in the first period were 10-9 Wildcats.
SECOND PERIOD
With the Wildcats still on the power play, Bourque tipped a pass from the corner under Cousineau to extend Moncton’s lead to 3-0 at 1:00.
But Saint John would respond at 2:48. Danick Gauthier gained possession at the blue line and skated towards the goal line. The draft eligible forward centered the puck, hitting Patrick Downe on the way by and skimming in past Riopel to make it 3-1.
Saint John had good pressure following Gauthier’s marker. But that ended at 5:55 when Pard headed off again for charging. On the man advantage, Tessier had a good chance when he walked out in front but swept the puck just wide of the post. But the Wildcats would score at 7:34 when the puck was thrown into the crease from behind the net. A mad scramble in front of Cousineau was finished off Scott Brannon.
Randy Cameron got called for hooking at 7:43. But on the penalty kill, the Wildcats’ David Savard was stopped on a hard wrist shot. Saint John could not contain the play at all, producing a horrible power play. The best chance came when Nicholas Petersen was stopped on a partial break.
Karel St. Laurent came in to relieve Cousineau at 10:09. But it would not help.
Tessier broke loose on a breakaway after a turnover at the blue line at 11:39. The Wildcats’ playoff leading scorer made no mistake, roofing a shot blocker side over St. Laurent to make it 5-1.
Less than a minute later at 12:22, Cameron finished off a three-on-one opportunity. Cameron fired his ninth of the playoffs over the shoulder of St. Laurent to make it 6-1 and an unofficial blowout.
Following some slow back-and-forth play, the Sea Dogs managed to get another one on the board at 19:26 after Simon Despres sent a long pass through open ice. The puck found the stick of Mike Thomas who wound up and fired a slap shot past Riopel to make it a 6-2 game.
To end the frame, Spencer Metcalf nailed Thomas at center ice.
Shots in the middle stanza were 8-6 Saint John.
THIRD PERIOD
The final frame was not much better for the Dogs. Nicholas Petersen turned the puck over in the slot where Cameron picked it up. Cameron had all the time in the world to roof a shot over St. Laurent at 1:53 to make it 7-2.
Mike Hoffman went off at 3:42 for hooking. On that power play, Simon Jodoin wired a shot from along the boards that beat St. Laurent low to make it an 8-2 game.
The Wildcats onslaught continued with Jonathan Huberdeau in the box. Allain Saulnier made it 9-2 at 7:48 by letting a shot go that went over the glove of St. Laurent down low.
Stanislav Galiev then headed off at 11:31 and it was all Moncton on the power play. Despite not being able to find the back of the net, the Wildcats had control for the full two minutes.
Saint John managed to score again at 15:24 after Nathan Beaulieu let a shot go off the post on a solo rush. The rebound went right to Chuckie Schembri who recorded his second of the playoffs for the Sea Dogs to make it 9-3.
Metcalf nailed Danick Gauthier from behind at 19:20. But with 11 seconds left in the game, Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant flipped his lid (pictured above). Gallant tried to climb over the glass that separates the two team’s benches to get at the Wildcats’ coaching staff. He was unsuccessful though and was pulled back by assistant coach Mike Kelly. Gallant was tossed from the game.
Shots in the third were 16-11 Moncton.
NOTES: See Station Nation Postscript tomorrow.
NEXT GAME: Game three is Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
Moncton made it 1-0 at 7:30. A point shot was stopped by Cousineau with Kelsey Tessier picking up the rebound. Tessier fed Gabriel Bourque with a cross crease pass and then beat the Saint John net minder upstairs to score his fourth goal of the series.
Saint John started to gain some momentum after the goal. Stanislav Galiev fed Nicholas Petersen on a two-on-one but could only get a weak shot off. After Nathan Beaulieu sent a point shot through traffic just wide, Hoffman and Galiev broke in a two-on-one but sent the disc wide also.
With the Sea Dogs still having pressure, a pass went down the ice where Christian Morin skated to grab it just inside the blue line. But Scott Brannon picked the puck off and beat Cousineau with a backhand shot through the five hole to make it 2-0 Wildcats.
Riopel was in his zone when Michael Kirkpatrick had a wide open net to his side. The Saint John forward made a nifty play to get the shot off, only to have Riopel snatch it away from him with an unreal save.
Saint John got a power play chance at 15:30 as Daniel Pettersson headed off. The Sea Dogs had some excellent pressure but could not get any shots through the Moncton defense.
At 18:34, Simon Despres had one foot in the bench door when Gabriel Bourret jumped over the boards. But the officials were sticklers on Sunday, calling Saint John for too many men. Moncton had some chances on the man advantage but could not beat Cousineau.
Shots in the first period were 10-9 Wildcats.
SECOND PERIOD
With the Wildcats still on the power play, Bourque tipped a pass from the corner under Cousineau to extend Moncton’s lead to 3-0 at 1:00.
But Saint John would respond at 2:48. Danick Gauthier gained possession at the blue line and skated towards the goal line. The draft eligible forward centered the puck, hitting Patrick Downe on the way by and skimming in past Riopel to make it 3-1.
Saint John had good pressure following Gauthier’s marker. But that ended at 5:55 when Pard headed off again for charging. On the man advantage, Tessier had a good chance when he walked out in front but swept the puck just wide of the post. But the Wildcats would score at 7:34 when the puck was thrown into the crease from behind the net. A mad scramble in front of Cousineau was finished off Scott Brannon.
Randy Cameron got called for hooking at 7:43. But on the penalty kill, the Wildcats’ David Savard was stopped on a hard wrist shot. Saint John could not contain the play at all, producing a horrible power play. The best chance came when Nicholas Petersen was stopped on a partial break.
Karel St. Laurent came in to relieve Cousineau at 10:09. But it would not help.
Tessier broke loose on a breakaway after a turnover at the blue line at 11:39. The Wildcats’ playoff leading scorer made no mistake, roofing a shot blocker side over St. Laurent to make it 5-1.
Less than a minute later at 12:22, Cameron finished off a three-on-one opportunity. Cameron fired his ninth of the playoffs over the shoulder of St. Laurent to make it 6-1 and an unofficial blowout.
Following some slow back-and-forth play, the Sea Dogs managed to get another one on the board at 19:26 after Simon Despres sent a long pass through open ice. The puck found the stick of Mike Thomas who wound up and fired a slap shot past Riopel to make it a 6-2 game.
To end the frame, Spencer Metcalf nailed Thomas at center ice.
Shots in the middle stanza were 8-6 Saint John.
THIRD PERIOD
The final frame was not much better for the Dogs. Nicholas Petersen turned the puck over in the slot where Cameron picked it up. Cameron had all the time in the world to roof a shot over St. Laurent at 1:53 to make it 7-2.
Mike Hoffman went off at 3:42 for hooking. On that power play, Simon Jodoin wired a shot from along the boards that beat St. Laurent low to make it an 8-2 game.
The Wildcats onslaught continued with Jonathan Huberdeau in the box. Allain Saulnier made it 9-2 at 7:48 by letting a shot go that went over the glove of St. Laurent down low.
Stanislav Galiev then headed off at 11:31 and it was all Moncton on the power play. Despite not being able to find the back of the net, the Wildcats had control for the full two minutes.
Saint John managed to score again at 15:24 after Nathan Beaulieu let a shot go off the post on a solo rush. The rebound went right to Chuckie Schembri who recorded his second of the playoffs for the Sea Dogs to make it 9-3.
Metcalf nailed Danick Gauthier from behind at 19:20. But with 11 seconds left in the game, Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant flipped his lid (pictured above). Gallant tried to climb over the glass that separates the two team’s benches to get at the Wildcats’ coaching staff. He was unsuccessful though and was pulled back by assistant coach Mike Kelly. Gallant was tossed from the game.
Shots in the third were 16-11 Moncton.
NOTES: See Station Nation Postscript tomorrow.
NEXT GAME: Game three is Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
Its very simple. They are better, deep down we all knew that. But this much better?? Tues night we need to show pride to wear the jersey!!! Our best players have to be our best players not invisible working on plans next week. We knew this was coming at cristmas but at least put out an effort line the 3rd line is.
ReplyDelete