SEA DOGS COME ALIVE JUST IN TIME

STATION NATION RECAP
FINAL: Wildcats 4, Sea Dogs 6

SAINT JOHN - It was a masterful performance. A show that not only keeps the Saint John Sea Dogs' heads above the water in the race for the President’s Cup.

"We got back to basics out there and were able to generate some solid offense,” said Nicholas Petersen to the Sea Dogs’ Twitter page, one of several offensive guns that finally woke up last night. “Hopefully we can keep it going."

The Sea Dogs won their first game of the President’s Cup Final Tuesday night by score of 6-4 over the Moncton Wildcats. But the score certainly does not do the Sea Dogs’ performance justice.

Saint John lead 5-1 going into the third period but nearly blew the lead in the final minutes after the Wildcats scored three quick ones on goaltender Marco Cousineau.

But Mike Hoffman put the ‘Cats epic comeback attempt to rest with an empty net marker at 19:53.

Hoffman and Michael Kirkpatrick scored two goals for the victors while single markers came from Petersen and the ever dangerous Danick Gauthier.

Randy Cameron and Gabriel Bourque each scored twice for Moncton. Bourque now has seven goals in the three games of this series.

Saint John was opportunistic on the power play, going 3/5. Moncton went 1/7.

Sea Dogs net minder Cousineau was excellent in the crease area until late in the third period. According to the News 88.9 post-game show, the 20-year old appeared to tweak a part of his upper body after making a stop. Cousineau made 36 saves for his 13th win of the post-season.

Nicola Riopel was chased from the Moncton net in the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Shane Owen relieved the former MVP in the crease and faced 12 shots.

FIRST PERIOD
Bourque almost made it 1-0 Moncton early in the first on a two-on-one play but could only get a weak shot off.

The tension and nervousness felt around the building stopped at 1:05 when Gauthier scored his third goal of the series to make it 1-0 Saint John. The 18-year old found a loose puck in the crease off a scramble and backhanded the puck past Riopel to open the scoring.

Petersen was sprung on a partial break following the goal, but Brandon Gormley got back in time to swip the puck away.

With David Savard in the box at 6:24, Petersen wired a wrist shot from just inside the line that went off the crossbar and in to make it 2-0 Sea Dogs.

Saint John kept the momentum going with Stanislav Galiev being absolutely robbed by Riopel on a breakaway. Then Tomas Jurco was fed with a wide open net but one timed the puck off the pad on the Moncton goalie.

Following a clean faceoff win by the ‘Cats at 14:46, a pass from the corner found Bourque all alone at the side of the goal. Cousineau had no chance on the shot as his defense allowed the Nashville Predators prospect all the space in the world.

The Wildcats got some energy off the goal as Kelsey Tessier tipped a pass just over the bar to end the frame.

Shots in the first were 12-11 Moncton.

SECOND PERIOD
Pierre Durepos made a great play to open up the period, breaking up a well executed two-on-one chance for the ‘Cats.

At 5:23, Petersen wristed a shot in on goal that passed through an exuberant amount of traffic. Kirkpatrick got wood on the puck and tipped it by Riopel to make it 3-1 Dogs.

After killing off a Steven Anthony slashing penalty, Tessier headed to the box at 11:02. On the man advantage, Mike Hoffman blasted a point shot that appeared too had been tipped on the way through traffic. The puck trickled by a stunned Riopel to make it 4-1 Saint John. That goal chased the Moncton net minder from the cage.

Tessier headed to the sin bin again at 14:32. Just seven seconds into the power play, Kirkpatrick let loose a devastating point shot that beat Owen through the five-hole and gave Saint John a four goal lead heading into the third period.

The Sea Dogs got into some penalty trouble late in the frame but managed to hold on to their large lead.

Shots in the second were 14-9 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
After Daniel Pettersson was robbed by the glove of Cousineau, Durepos almost finished off a wonderful tic-tac-toe passing play but fired it wide.

With Kirkpatrick in the box for high sticking at 6:57, Allain Saulnier was denied in close by Cousineau with the pad.

Following a scrum on the crease area, Christian Morin was sentenced for two minutes at 10:26. Moments later, captain Mike Thomas was awarded a questionable diving penalty after tripping over the skate of Owen.

The Wildcats made the Dogs pay on the two-man power play. After stopping the initial point shot, Cousineau let a big rebound go to the side of the blue paint. Cameron was there to hammer the puck home and cut the Sea Dogs’ lead to three.

Following a Saint John timeout and Cousineau in pain, Moncton made it a two goal game at 16:11. A big shot hit the backboards and rebounded in front where Bourque was standing. He scored his 18th of the playoffs to make it 5-3.

Just over a minute later at 17:40, Cameron shot the disc from an impossible angle along the icing line. The puck fooled Cousineau and snuck by his pad to make it a one goal game with over two minutes remaining.

Owen headed to the bench with just over a minute to go, putting Harbour Station into a nervous wreck. But the Wildcats could not beat the Saint John defense.

Hoffman made a great play at the line to keep the puck in the Moncton zone with seven seconds left. He then found the empty cage to cement a Saint John victory.

Heading to Moncton on Friday, the Wildcats own a 2-1 series lead.