FINAL: Sea Dogs 7, Val-d’Or 3
VAL-D’OR, Que. – The road woes are clearing up for the Saint John Sea Dogs.
A dominating performance by the Sea Dogs at the Air Creebec Centre in Val-d’Or tonight gave the visitors a 7-3 win over the Foreurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Coming off a dramatic 5-4 win over the same Foreurs team on Wednesday night, it was thought that this may be an intense and close battle. But that was not the case as the Sea Dogs stomped over the home team, keeping them to just 16 shots in the night.
Stanislav Galiev had a pair of goals while single markers were recorded by Gabriel Bourett, Zach Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Thomas and Simon Despres. Frederic Piche put in a solid outing in goal, doing his job and stopping 13 shots on the night.
Jonathan Hazen scored a couple of goals and Alexandre Touchette added another. Jacob Chouinard and Francois Tremblay combined to allow seven goals on 32 shots.
The Sea Dogs will certainly look to build on this win as they move on to Rouyn-Noranda.
FIRST PERIOD
After a slow first few minutes to open the period, Thierry Comtois had a good chance when he shot a loose puck through traffic, forcing Frederic Piche to defelect the puck away with his stick. Shortly after, Saint John started to get some pucks on net via a Mike Thomas point shot. Then Ryan Tesnk went below the goal line and centered for Aidan Kelly in front but could not get a shot off.
At 9:58, Tomas Jurco came down the wing and centered for a streaking Zach Phillips who had an open cage. His fourth straight game with a goal made it a 1-0 game.
Then Tesink made an unreal inside-out move around a defenseman, getting a good shot that produced a rebound that was just out of the reach of Gabriel Bourret.
At 11:45 Kelly threw the puck out of play and was given a delay of game penalty. But before the whistle blew he was hit hard in the corner and was forced to leave the game but would return. Alexandre Carrier was given a roughing penalty on the play.
During the four-on-four span, Bourret shot the puck on net but was stopped followed by Simon Despres getting a shot off. Bourret picked up Despres rebound and had an open cage at 12:59 to make it 2-0 Sea Dogs.
At 13:22, Comtois was given a five minute major and game misconduct after nailing Despres in the same spot Kelly was injured. The Big Horse was down for a bit but skated back to the bench favouring his shoulder. Steven Anthony was given a roughing penalty on the play after a semi-scrap took place.
Later in the period, Tomas Jurco cut through the crease and got a backhand shot off only to be stopped by Jacob Chouinard in the Val-d’Or crease.
Shots in the opening frame were 11-5 for the visitors.
SECOND PERIOD
Steven Anthony has the best chance early for Saint John, skating down the wing and shooting on a two-on-one only to be stopped by the glove of Chouinard. Then at the other end, Frederic Piche stood his ground by making his own save with the leather.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a short break a few minutes later, backhanding the puck in on Chouinard but was stopped by the big pad of the Foreurs netminder.
Ryan Tesink was called for slashing at 8:24 to give the Foreurs a power play – but it would turn out to be Saint John who would take advantage of the uneven play.
At 9:30, Mike Thomas entered the zone on a partial two-on-one for Saint John, ripping a half-slap shot over Chouinard to give the Dogs a three goal lead. Rookie Francois Tremblay would replace Chouinard in the Val-d’Or crease following the goal.
On the same penalty kill, Saint John’s offense clicked again in amazing fashion. Huberdeau made a great move to get around a Val-d’Or defenseman while cutting through the crease. He did a small spin move in front and then a nifty deke to get the disc past Tremblay on a YouTube worthy play.
With the penalty to Tesink over, Saint John almost made it 5-0 when a lead pass found Scott Oke ahead of everyone but was stoped by the pad of Tremblay on a nice move by Oke.
The Foreurs got on the board at 16:07 when Jonathan Hazen was left all alone in front of Piche in the Saint John zone. He riffled a shot up and over the Sea Dogs goaltender to make it a 4-1 game.
But just 53 seconds later, Anthony fired the puck right on but was stopped, forcing a large rebound to be given up by Tremblay. The struggeling Stanisalv Galiev found it at the side of the goal and scored on the open cage opportunity to get Saint John’s four goal lead back.
Guillaume Gelinas was called for roughing at 17:48, putting the Sea Dogs to power play for the second time. Just nine seconds in, a Despres wrist shot and a Huberdeau screen made it a 6-1 Sea Dogs lead heading into intermission.
Shots in the middle stanza were 10-2 Saint John.
THIRD PERIOD
The Sea Dogs kept their offense going in the third. Just 34 seconds in, an Anthony shot caused a scrum in front with the puck squirting to the side of the goal for Galiev who scored his second of the match to make it a 7-1 game.
After Hazen had a decent chance in front of Piche, Stephen MacAulay performed a great wraparound move but was robbed by Tremblay in the Foreurs crease. The Sea Dogs offense took off again after that as a Michael Kirkpatrick wrist shot was deflected away by the pad of Tremblay. Pierre Durepos then hit the post on a point shot followed by Phillips sending a nice cross-crease pass to Huberdeau but he didn’t have any room to work with in front.
The Durepos post shot would be reviewed – and a quick one at that – but was ruled no goal as the original call stated.
Scott Oke was called for hooking at 11:13, giving the Foreurs a man advantage opportunity. Val-d’Or would capitalize as Hazen scored just nine seconds in on a wrist shot to make it a 7-2 game.
The home team began to take control of the game late, something the Saint John coaching staff will no doubt not be pleased with. The Foreurs would add another goal at 16:48 after a scramble in the crease forced the puck to find the side of the crease. Alexandre Touchette took advantage and beat the fallen Piche to make it a 7-3 game.
Late in the match, Oke had another solid chance after he made a great move around a defenseman but was ultimately stopped by Tremblay.
Shots in the final period were 11-9 Saint John.
Both teams went 1/2 on the power play.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Tyrone Sock and Jason Cameron were healthy scratches for the Sea Dogs. Also, Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant
NOTES
The Foreurs wore pink jerseys to support breast cancer research. There was a pre-game ceremony at center ice to honour the event… Val-d’Or forward Brett Hester served the first game of his two game suspension tonight after being suspended following his hit on Guillaume Cloutier Wednesday… both Aidan Kelly and Simon Despres returned from first period injuries… Zach Phillips has scored a goal in each of his past four games… the Sea Dogs improved to 5-3-0-1 on the road this season… Mike Kelly is now 2-0 as head coach of the Sea Dogs… with two goals and two assists, Stanislav Galiev had a team high four points… the attendance was a mere 1,813… Simon Despres and Michael Kirkpatrick were a team high +3… Jean-Francois Leblanc and Olivier Archambault were a Foreurs worst -4 on the night… Galiev was the News 88.9 Top Dog.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs face the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies Saturday night at 8:30 pm at the building-formally-known-as the Dave Keon Arena.
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