SEA DOGS –ROCKET GAME AT A GLANCEFinal Score: Saint John 5, PEI 0
Saint John Goals: Zach Phillips (2, 3, 4), Jonathan Huberdeau (4), and Aidan Kelly (1)
PEI Goals: None
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Frederic Piche
Losing Goaltender: PEI – Maxime Legace
News 88.9 Top Dog: Scott Oke
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Rocket: 0/3, Sea Dogs: 3/11
Shots on Goal: Rocket: 4+7+6=17, Sea Dogs: 7+17+18=42
Length: 2:24
50/50 Draw: $1,005
Attendance: 1,134
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Tyrone Sock was a healthy scratch as Jordan Mock made his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League debut for the Sea Dogs. Mock was called up on Saturday.
Also out due to NHL commitments were Stephen MacAulay, Steven Anthony, Mike Thomas, Simon Després and Stanislav Galiev.
THE GAME STORY
The headline in this game was the PEI Rocket’s discipline. Whether the penalties called upon them were warranted or not, the home team did not put forth a winning effort.
“Penalties played a part — the Rocket had 34 penalty minutes, two ejections including head coach Eric Lavigne, and four 10-minute misconducts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League contest,” writes Rocket reporter Charles Reid of The Guardian.
Those penalty figures would help the Saint John Sea Dogs cruise to a 5-0 victory on Sunday evening at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.
“I don’t know how many penalties we had. You can blame the refereeing, but at the end of the day you have to be accountable for your own play,” said PEI captain Travis McIsaac to the newspaper. “You have to generate more offence.”
There was not much offence from either team in the first period. The two teams combined for just 11 shots with a small majority of them being legitimate scoring opportunities. But with just 35 seconds remaining in the first period, Zach Phillips ripped a shot from a sharp angle that beat PEI net minder Maxime Legace to make it 1-0.
In the second, Jonathan Huberdeau scored at 6:46 before Zach Phillips added his second of the game at 19:36.
Phillips would complete the hat trick at 13:35 in the third, entering the zone on a shorthanded one-on-one play with Jordan Escott. Phillips faked by Escott rather easily and beat Legace with a backhand shot to make it a 4-0 Saint John lead. Aidan Kelly added one more to give the visitors the decisive victory.
"I liked a lot," Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said of his team's effort to the Telegraph-Journal. "I thought we played a good solid game and we didn't give up much at all and that's the way we have to play.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Sea Dogs mascot Fleaburn turns legal drinking age today as he celebrates his 19th birthday according to his Facebook page.
CRY ME A RIVER
Zach Phillips had very little sympathy for the Rocket’s penalty woes.
“Just taking advantage of their stupid penalties (was the key to winning). They were taking stupid penalties all night,” said Phillips to The Guardian, “and we stayed out of the crap.”
Although a few of the calls were questionable against PEI, many if not most of the calls were actual penalties.
LAVIGNE TOSSED
Rocket head coach Eric Lavigne wasn’t pleased with referee’s Brad Mills and Jeff Hopkins the moment they stopped on the ice.
After arguing with the two after just about every penalty, Lavigne finally lost it in the third period when Kevin Boyer was given an instigator penalty following a scarp with Devon Oliver-Dares. The coach threw his lineup card onto the ice in frustration.
As Lavigne walked across the ice to the zamboni entrance where the Rocket’s dressing room is located, the sparse crowd at the Civic Centre rose to their feet and applauded as he left.
GOOD TILT
The fight between Kevin Boyer and fellow rookie Devon Oliver-Dares was a good one. Both players landed some solid punches before the spirited scrap was broken up by the officials.
Oliver-Dares’ jersey came off in the fight, forcing him to be ejected for not having it tied down. The Sea Dogs coaching staff tried to argue that his sweater was ripped off of him but the officials would not buy it.
The 2010 draft pick looked excellent once again for Saint John. He will be difficult to cut again when/if the time comes.
DELAY OF GAME
The Terry Fox Run across the Confederation Bridge and Dallas Stars Training Camp at the Charlottetown Civic Centre pushed the start time back to 7:00 pm from its usual 4:00 pm start.
In typical CCC fashion, the lights wouldn’t turn after the Rocket players were introduced. There was a five minute delay before they were be turned back on.
STREAKING
Jonathan Huberdeau, Ryan Tesink, and Zach Phillips have all managed to get a point in all four games this season.
Huberdeau also has a goal in every game so far this year while Tesink has an assist in each match.
OLIGNY IN HOT WATER
It wasn’t shown on the webcast, but according to News 88.9’s Tim Roszell, Rocket defenseman Jimmy Oligny gave a shove to referee Jeff Hopkins after after he nailed Ryan Tesink in the corner.
Oligny received an unsportsmanlike misconduct on the play.
OUT OF TOWN
From The Canadian Press:
Elsewhere in the QMJHL it was: Acadie-Bathurst 4, Moncton 1; Cape Breton 5, Rimouski 4; Victoriaville 6, Baie-Comeau 2; and Drummondville 4, Montreal 3 (OT).
QUICK HITS
Frederic Piche recorded his first ever Sea Dogs shutout. He wasn’t tested too much, stopping just 17 shots… rookie goaltender Maxime Leagce played well against Saint John’s high powered offence… the Rocket were without forwards Andrej Nestrasil and Philippe Paradis and defenceman Adam Polasek who were all at NHL Training Camps… the Acadie-Bathurst Titan actually outdrew the Rocket in attendance numbers on Sunday. It was only PEI’s second home game of the year… it was Saint John’s first road game of the year and the first game of a five game road swing... Tesink and Pierre Durepos each had two assists.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs travel to Verdun, Quebec on Friday to face the powerful Montreal Junior at 8:00 pm.
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