DOGS, DeSERRES SHUTOUT HUSKIES

SN POST-GAME
FINAL: Huskies 0, Sea Dogs 2

SAINT JOHN – Jacob DeSerres is probably wondering what he got himself into.

The newly acquired goaltender made his Saint John Sea Dogs debut tonight facing a total of three shots in the first period. He would then stopped 17 more over the final two periods to earn the shutout. But although the Sea Dogs dominated the game, DeSerres had to make some big stops to keep momentum going in Saint John’s favour.

The Sea Dogs scored twice in the third period to defeat the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night at Harbour Station.

Although the shots on goal total shows 38-20 in favour of the Dogs, it could have easily been over 50 shots on net if it wasn’t for the Huskies’ defence who blocked an enormous amount of shots and deflected pucks away by getting sticks in lanes.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies net minder Mickael Audette was solid, but never really had to make any incredible saves and stayed well position all night.

Despite the rebuilding Huskies falling to the Sea Dogs, they should definitely be proud of their efforts against such a powerful offensive team like Saint John.

Steven Anthony and Stanislav Galiev each scored for Saint John.

FIRST PERIOD
Maxim Kazakov had the best scoring chance early on with Jacob DeSerres caught out of position in the Sea Dogs crease. The Russian deked around the fallen goalie but missed the cage.

At 1:50, the Sea Dogs began lengthy two man advantage. Jonathan Huberdeau sent a cross crease down low but it hit something on the way through and never hit the opposite side. Despite the majority of the power play time being spent in the Rouyn-Noranda zone, the Sea Dogs had a hard time getting shots through.

Steven Anthony had a good chance in the Huskies crease but was denied by the pad of Mickael Audette. Then Huberdeau performed a wraparound but Audette came up huge by keeping it out with his toe.

The Sea Dogs went back to the power play at 12:29 but like the first one, they had a difficult time getting through the pesky Huskies defence.

Simon Despres got called for checking from behind at 15:37 but it was quickly cancelled out when Jason Kelly tripped up Tomas Jurco in front of the Sea Dogs net at 16:35.

Despite the ice being tilted towards the Rouyn-Noranda zone, the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes. Shots were 13-3 in favour of the Sea Dogs although the Huskies defence probably stopped close to 10 shots.

SECOND PERIOD
Michael Kirkpatrick almost made it 1-0 just minutes into the middle frame when he backhanded the puck into the crease but was cleared before a Sea Dog could get a stick on it.

Antoine Laperriere headed to box at 3:27 for goaltender interference. On the power play, Saint John’s best opportunity came when Stanislav Galiev fed Kirkpatrick with a cross ice pass but only to have the alternate captain fan on the shot.

Danick Gauthier was called for roughing at 8:10. The Huskies had some pressure on the power play which began with DeSerres stopping the disc in a scramble in the crease. Then Jerome Raymond tipped the puck on net in front of the crease but was stopped. Robbie DeFulviis closed it out with a sold backhand shot.

Just as the penalty was coming to end, Huberdeau entered the zone on a breakaway but was stopped by the pad of Audette.

Saint John got their momentum back as the period came to a close. Stephen MacAulay fired a shot through a screen and forced Audette to make a quick blocker stop. Then Kevin Gagne fired a point shot with a juicy rebound going into the abyss at the side of the net.

The Sea Dogs dominated most of the period again and outshot Rouyn-Noranda 13-9.

THIRD PERIOD
Gauthier headed off to serve his second penalty of the game 2:08. Jessyko Bernard had two good chances on the Huskies power play but DeSerres stood tall and made a couple of big saves to keep the momentum in the Sea Dogs’ favour.

MacAulay then led a shorthanded two-on-one and chose to shoot the puck, only to have Audette make the save.

Jason Houde finally beat DeSerres soon after the penalty expired. But luckily for Saint John, the puck hit the crossbar and stayed out. The officials would review the shot but the call would stand.

The Sea Dogs finally made it 1-0 at 8:53 as Anthony skated through the Huskies defence. The Vancouver Canucks prospect cut through the crease with the puck, depositing a backhander into the open net to put an end to the scoreless game.

Galiev opened up the game at 9:33. An Anthony shot in close was stopped by Audette but he couldn’t hang on to the puck. The loose puck squirted to the side of the crease where Galiev jammed it in to make it a 2-0 game.

Laperriere was sent to the box again at 10:29 for tripping. Galiev fed Kirkpatrick with a cross crease pass but would once again fail to capitalize on the empty net opportunity.

After killing off another penalty, the Huskies had a power play of their own with 2:33 to go in the game. With just over a minute to go, Rouyn-Noranda pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. They would get some pressure but couldn’t not beat DeSerres, giving the Dogs a 2-0 win.

Shots in the third were 12-8 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs went 0/6 on the power play while the Huskies went 0/4.

STATS
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 0 At Saint John Sea Dogs 2 - Status Final
Saturday, October 16, 2010 - Harbour Station

Rouyn-Noranda 0 0 0 - 0
Saint John 0 0 2 - 2

1st Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Leduc Rou (tripping), 6:05; O'Connor Rou (checking from behind), 6:19; Grenier C. Rou (holding), 12:29; Després Snb (checking from behind), 15:37; Kelly Rou (tripping), 16:35.

2nd Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Laperrière Rou (interference of a player or a goaltender), 3:27; Gauthier Snb (roughing), 8:10.

3rd Game Period-1, Saint John, Anthony 5 (Després), 8:53. 2, Saint John, Galiev 3 (Anthony, Kirkpatrick), 9:33. Penalties-Gauthier Snb (checking from behind), 2:08; Laperrière Rou (tripping), 10:29; Verret Rou (roughing), 15:29; Huberdeau Snb (interference of a player or a goaltender), 17:27.

Shots on Goal-Rouyn-Noranda 21. Saint John 38.
Power Play Opportunities-Rouyn-Noranda 0 of 4; Saint John 0 of 6.
Goalies-Rouyn-Noranda, Audette 4-6-0-1 (38 shots-36 saves); Noonan 0-3-0-0 (0 shots-0 saves). Saint John, DeSerres 1-0-0-0 (21 shots-21 saves).
A-4,334
Referees-Mario Maillet (21), Todd Thomander (15).
Linesmen-Ryan Burke (46), Jay Doiron (55).

NOTES: The Sea Dogs wore pick jerseys in the game. They were auctioned off during the game and awarded to winners following the match. Over $9,000 was raised for breast cancer research… Fleaburn wore a massive pink hat… the game scratches were once again not announced… Jacob DeSerres became only the second Sea Dog to pick up a shutout in his Saint John debut. Karel St. Laurent did so in 2008 versus the Val-d’Or Foreurs… St. Laurent remains in the city and, according to News 88.9, has been offered a job by several junior ‘A’ teams… the ceremonial puck drop was a disaster. Huskies captain Gabriel O’Conner was late to the party as was the Midland delivery guy who delivers the puck… check out Station Nation’s Marc Henwood’s photos HERE… to relive tonight’s game, check out the SN Live Blog… the News 88.9 Top Dog was Jonathan Huberdeau... the Sea Dogs are now 7-0-0-0 on home ice this season.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Victoriaville Tigres this afternoon at 4:00 pm at Harbour Station.