SEA DOGS – WILDCATS GAME AT A GLANCEFinal Score: Saint John 1, Moncton 5
Saint John Goals: Danick Gauthier (4)
Moncton Goals: Brandon Gormley (2), Gabriel Bourque (12, 13, 14), and Ted Stephens (3)
Winning Goaltender: Nicola Riopel (13-3-0)
Losing Goaltender: Marco Cousineau (12-4-0)
New 88.9 Top Dog: Marco Cousineau
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Wildcats: 2/4, Sea Dogs: 0/3
Shots on Goal: Wildcats: 14+13+11=38, Sea Dogs: 11+8+7=26
Attendance: 6,488
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Steven Anthony missed the game with a groin injury and Kevin Gagne was out with a hurt knee.
"We're hopeful all three are going to be back for some of these games,'' Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant told the Telegraph-Journal on Friday, referring to Anthony, Gagne, and Nicholas Pard.
Pard, who has a fractured foot, suited up for game one last night after missing the last two games of the some-finals against Victoriaville.
Tyrone Sock, Chuckie Schembri, and Aiden Kelly were healthy scratches.
‘CATS SHOW THEIR CLAWS IN GAME ONE
A quick start and a dominating second half was all it took for the Moncton Wildcats to take a 1-0 series lead in the President’s Cup Final against the Saint John Sea Dogs, taking game one 5-1.
"We didn't do (anything well),'' said Gerard Gallant to the Telegraph-Journal. "We were a step behind them all night (and) their whole team took space from us tonight. We were just flat and didn't show up to play. I just didn't like the way we competed all night and lost foot races to every loose puck.”
Saint John played with Moncton up until the second period where the Wildcats scored two power play goals to open up a three goal lead.
“When they got that 4-1 lead, they shut us down pretty good and we didn't battle back hard enough,'' said Gallant.
Brandon Gormley beat Marco Cousineau with a point shot just 14 second into the game. But the Sea Dogs responded with a rebound marker from Danick Gauthier just over a minute later.
"After the first three minutes, we settled in and played the grinding type of game that we need if we want to have a chance," said Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn to the Times & Transcript. "I thought our guys did a good job of sticking to the game plan and it's great to see their hard work pay off.”
Gabriel Bourque scored his first of three goals to put the Wildcats up 2-1 after one. Moncton would then score two in the second and an empty net goal in the third to take the game 5-1.
"I didn't think we showed up,” said Gallant. “There was lots of energy in the building and I thought we were going to come out with lots of jump, but it was just the opposite. We came out really flat. We just couldn't get going and we didn't get many good scoring chances."
NO SHOW
Saint John’s high octane offence was a no show in game one. Whether it was the Wildcats’ stingy defense or not, the Sea Dogs failed to get any good scoring chances for most of the game.
"We need our top players to step up a lot more than they did in this game," said Gallant. "They didn't have the jump they usually have. I would say 80 per cent of our team was flat in this game.”
Nicholas Petersen was held pointless and was a -1, Mike Hoffman was a team worst -3, Stanislav Galiev was a -2 and had four penalty minutes, and Michael Kirkpatrick was a -1.
NO URGENCY
As pointed out on the News 88.9 post-game show, you have to wonder where the Sea Dogs were in the third period last night.
Saint John, the league’s top scoring team in the regular season, had no urgency whatsoever to try and overcome the three goal deficit in the final 20 minutes.
Saint John was even outshot in the third 11-7.
UNREAL ATMOSPHERE
Under 4,000 fans made their way to Monday’s series clinching win over Victoriaville at Harbour Station. Last night, there was a larger crowd in their seats before the warm-up started.
Fans were given a white t-shirt to wear as they entered the building to be part of the whiteout. The place was rocking early, as both teams were cheered for from their faithful who had congregated to the center of the provinces hockey world on this night.
The intro video was finally improved, actually allowing people to make some noise.
"The crowd was amazing here and there was a lot of noise, but we had to stay calm and do our job,” said Wildcats star Gabriel Bourque.
EPIC POWER STRUGGLENot one, not two, but four fan buses made their way from Moncton to the SJ for this historic game. But with so many ‘Cats fans in Sea Dogs land, there was quite a power struggle to see which side could be heard the most.
Moncton clearly won the fan battle, putting the Saint John faithful to shame.
“Sea Dogs fans should be ashamed that 500 Cat fans can be louder than 6000 Sea Dogs fans,” said one disgruntled fan on Twitter.
Both sides were even until the second period where Wildcats fans attempted to blow the roof off the joint.
DOGS FANS GONE WILD?
Several Wildcat fans were not happy with the way they were treated last night.
“Dear Seadog fans, a little maturity is a good thing....throwing your beer cups at Wildcats fans bc you say ‘we took over’ is just silly,” said Tracey MacAllister on Twitter.
“From what I am hearing & reading, some Sea Dogs fans were unbelievably crude and rude at Harbour Station Friday night,” said Robert Pressman on Twitter. “They need to grow up!”
DESCHAMPS OUT
Wildcats leading scorer Nicolas Deschamps missed last night’s game with an ankle injury. The Moncton forward suffered the injury last Friday in Drummondville.
Deschamps, who was tied with Sean Couturier for the lead league in points with 96, could be seen hobbling around Harbour Station with his red mohawk on crutches.
‘THREE BLIND MICE’
Three officials try to work out the holes in the ice prior to the second period. Also, a great shot of Turk’s mustache.
To view K.J. McLean’s photo click HERE.
UNDER THE FOOF
Alumni in the house last night featured two of the best: Ryan Sparling and Alex Grant.
Sparling, the Sea Dogs all-time leading scorer played in the University ranks this season. Grant, meanwhile, played in the Pittsburgh Penguins farm system.
Also in the house were Francois “Go-Go” Gauthier, Kevin Charland, and Alexander Leduc.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
We haven’t got a clue what this is about, but it would answer a lot of questions about the third period.
From Skivensky:
OK Who sent a 24 Mooeshead case to the Seadogs dressing room! after the second period????
UPON FURTHER REVIEWTwo close plays went under review last night. The first was in the second period when a crazy bounce went in on Nicola Riopel, forcing him to perform a sweet spin move in the crease. The call stood and it was no goal.
The second also came in the second frame with the Wildcats buzzing on the power play. A shot went through about five bodies in front, appearing to find some white ice past the blue for a short period of time. The call also stood and the Sea Dogs went on to kill off the penalty.
During one of the reviews, Harbour Station erupted into a round of “The Wave.”
PARDON?
This was posted by the Sea Dogs on their official Facebook page this morning:
"… Station Nation - ROCK the station!"
That’s legit. We are expecting $10,000 in the mail on Monday.
We posted the news on our Twitter account (which we are 99% certain the Sea Dogs read daily but refuse to follow us) and was quickly deleted.
WE’VE GOT SOME BAD NEWS
We’ve been called negative thinkers on here about a dozen times, but this time we are simply stating facts.
Saint John has lost the first game of a playoff series only twice (Rouyn-Noranda in 2008 and Cape Breton in 2009). Both of those series resulted in sweeps.
BIG NIGHT FOR BOURQUE
Team Canada World Junior team member Gabriel Bourque had a big night last evening, recording three goals to help propel the ‘Cats to victory.
"There's a good reason why I was able to get a hat trick tonight," he said. "My linemates Kelsey Tessier and Daniel Pettersson played an excellent game. They worked hard and did a great job of getting the puck to me so they deserve a lot of the credit.
Bourque had 16 goals and 36 assists in 55 regular season games but already has 14 goals and five assists in just 16 playoff games.
OUT OF TOWN
Barrie and Windsor had an off day yesterday in the OHL Final series. The Spitfires lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 and are heading to Windsor on Sunday. That game can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet.
In game one of the Western Hockey League final, the Calgary Hitmen destroyed the Tri-City Americans 7-0 to take a 1-0 series lead.
SEADOGSTV HIGHLIGHTS
WILDCATS POST-GAME SHOW
QUICK HITS
The “Go Cats Go” chants closed out the third period… Nicola Riopel was a bit shaky in the Moncton goal, letting out some big rebounds all game long… Randy Cameron was hit in face several times with no penalties called… Mike Hoffman averaged almost five shots per game in the regular season. He had one last night in the biggest game of the year… it was third sell-out in Sea Dogs post-season history. Number four comes Tuesday.
NEXT GAME
Game two of the President’s Cup final goes tomorrow afternoon (4:00 pm, Rogers TV, News 88.9 FM) at the Moncton Coliseum.
From the Times & Transcript:
Crazy Claude, a long-time trumpeter who used to work for the NHL's Quebec Nordiques, will be there to help stir the crowd into a frenzy.
Tickets to this game, game three, and game four are already sold-out.
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