BIG HORSE NETS WINNER FOR DOGS

SN POST-GAME
FINAL: Sea Dogs 3, Rocket 2

CHARLOTTETOWN – A road game in Prince Edward Island on Tuesday night provided the Saint John Sea Dogs with their toughest test in some time.

But the team that sits first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League continues to pass those tests.

A late third period goal by Simon Despres ended a 2-2 deadlock to give Saint John a 3-2 victory over the PEI Rocket at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. The Sea Dogs won their ninth straight game with the win.

Along with the game winner from “The Big Horse,” Zach Phillips and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the winners. Huberdeau’s goal is expected to be awarded to Phillips. Goaltender Frederic Piche was key in the win, making 26 saves.

Matthew Hobbs and Philippe Paradis scored in the heartbreaking Rocket loss. PEI goaltender Evan Mosher was terrific in goal, making 42 saves on the night and earning first star honours.

It wasn’t the greatest game ever played by the Sea Dogs. They dominated at times and let the game slip away at others. But, in the end, it was good enough for their 25th win of the campaign.

FIRST PERIOD
After several minutes of back-and-forth play with neither Saint John nor PEI recording shots on net, the Sea Dogs finally got things going. Michael Kirkpatrick sent a shot through a screen from the faceoff dot but had it blocked. Then Jonathan Huberdeau let a shot go following a faceoff that produced a rebound from Rocket goaltender Evan Mosher. But Mosher recovered to stop Steven Anthony in front.

Saint John went to the power play at 7:40 after Jamie MacIntyre hit Tyrone Sock from behind. At 8:49, Anthony threaded a beautiful cross crease pass to Zach Phillips who had an open net to make it 1-0 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs went back to the man advantage at 10:38 following Travis McIsaac’s trip on Stanislav Galiev. On the power play, Tomas Jurco had a good chance in front but cranked the puck off the post. Then Anthony tried to jam the puck in at the side as the penalty expired but Mosher was there to make the easy save.

Ben Duffy finally started to get some pressure going for PEI. He a great chance in front had his shot deflected. After a few minutes of solid pressure, Victor Provencher had a partial breakaway but was stopped nicely by a challenging Frederic Piche.

In the final minute, Phillips was called for hooking at 19:04.

Shots in the first frame were 13-5 in favour of the visitors.

SECOND PERIOD
The Sea Dogs opened the second period by killing off Phillips’ penalty. Huberdeau then fired a shot in close but was stopped with the rebound sliding into a fallen Mosher.

The Rocket began to get some pressure going after Huberdeau’s chance. A PEI forward had a partial break but his stick taken off the puck beautifully by Pierre Durepos as the two slid into the Sea Dogs’ net.

The Rocket went to the power play at 2:21 with Sock in the box. At 4:08, the puck went to the point for Matthew Hobbs who fired a one timer glove side on Piche to tie the match at 1-1.

Immediately following the goal, Saint John began to take the game over once again. Phillips fed Anthony in front from behind the goal line but missed. Then, Guillaume Cloutier fired a point shot through traffic that fooled everyone a bit, forcing Mosher and the Rocket defense to do quick work.

But then, momentum began to swing in PEI’s favour. A bad Saint John line change allowed for an odd-man break for the Rocket, but Piche was there to make a huge glove stop. Shortly after, Samuel Morneau forced Piche to make a huge pad save.

Saint John went back to the power play at 11:26, but despite some good pressure, could not score.

Dylan Capstick fired a point shot a few minutes later with the puck ending up behind Piche and on the goal line. The play was whistled dead and eventually reviewed - but the no goal call would stand.

The Sea Dogs got their lead back at 16:23. Anthony drove to the net and left the puck in the crease as he exited. Huberdeau and Phillips were there and jammed the puck past Mosher’s pad to make it a 2-1 Saint John lead. Huberdeau was given credit for the goal, but apparently, it will be changed to Phillips.

Not long after the marker, a pass found a streaking Jurco who fired a shot on goal but was absolutely robbed by a sensational glove stop by Mosher.

At 18:31, Philippe Paradis was called for roughing after throwing Nathan Beaulieu into the corner boards. The fans at the CCC and Rocket head coach Eric Lavigne were not too happy with the call.

Shots in the middle stanza were 22-9 Sea Dogs. Wow.

THIRD PERIOD
On the power play that carried over into the third period, Philippe Paradis tied the game once again. Duffy skated hard down the wing and sent on shot on goal that was stopped by Piche. But the rebound went to Paradis who had a wide open cage to tie the contest at 2-2.

"I just crashed the net and I got a greasy rebound just on my blade and I put it on the net," said Paradis to the Rocket's Twitter page after the game.

The back-and-forth action kicked off after that. Paradis had a great chance when he walked out from the boards and found himself alone in front. He riffled a shot but was stoned by the leather of Piche.

The Sea Dogs then had some solid opportunities. First, Jurco tried to jam the puck past Mosher but couldn’t. Then, Danick Gauthier fed Mike Thomas on a two-on-one but couldn’t get a good shot off. With Saint John really starting to get some pressure on, Simon Despres sent a point shot that produced a rebound which Anthony sent just wide.

Then the Rocket would come back with their own chances. Andrej Nestrasil let a one timer go from the bottom of the circle, forcing Piche to make a nice arm stop. Then Capstick sent a point shot on net that caused a minor scramble with the puck eventually being covered by Piche.

With 1:11 to go in the game, Despres crossed the blue line and let what looked like an innocent wrist shot go on Mosher from the faceoff circle. But the puck went past PEI’s overage goaltender to give Saint John a late 3-2 lead.

The Rocket would pull Mosher but it wouldn’t be enough as the Dogs went on to win 3-2.

Shots in the third period were 14-10 PEI.

The Rocket went 1/2 on the man advantage while Saint John went 1/4.

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Second year defenseman Gabriel Bourret was scratched. News 88.9 said that he is believed to be healthy but was not certain. Rookie forward Ryan Tesink was a healthy scratch.

STATS
Saint John, Sea Dogs 3 at PEI, Rocket 2 - Status Final
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - Charlottetown Civic Centre

Saint John 1 1 1 - 3
PEI 0 1 1 - 2

1st Game Period-1, Saint John, Phillips 22 (Huberdeau, Anthony), 8:49 (pp). Penalties-MacIntyre Pei (checking from behind), 7:40; McIsaac Pei (tripping), 10:38; Phillips Snb (holding), 19:04.

2nd Game Period-2, PEI, Hobbs 4 (Corbo, Linteau), 4:08 (pp). 3, Saint John, Huberdeau 21 (Anthony, Phillips), 16:23. Penalties-Sock Snb (holding), 2:21; Beauchemin Pei (holding), 11:26; Paradis Pei (roughing), 18:31.

3rd Game Period-4, PEI, Paradis 13 (Duffy, Nestrasil), 0:54. 5, Saint John, Després 8 (Kirkpatrick), 18:49. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Saint John 45. PEI 28.
Power Play Opportunities-Saint John 1 of 4; PEI 1 of 2.
Goalies-Saint John, Piché 12-1-0-2 (28 shots-26 saves). PEI, Mosher 11-12-1-1 (45 shots-42 saves).
A-1,942
Referees-Thane Arsenault (9).
Linesmen-Wayne Doyle (43), Justin Burchell (49).

NOTES
Mike Thomas was booed every time he touched the puck… the officials were booed just about every time they fbew the whistle… according to News 88.9, with an assist tonight, Michael Kirkpatrick is now tied with Chris DiDomenico for second all-time on the Sea Dogs point list with 204… Steven Anthony was Top Dog. He played on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Zach Phillips… Saint John improved to 3-0-0-0 against PEI this season and 2-0-0-0 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. Frederic Piche has both wins in PEI… the lights at the CCC actually turned on after the anthems for once… "Play the same game tomorrow and we'll get a good chance to win,” said Rocket forward Philippe Paradis to the Rocket’s Twitter page on tomorrow's rematch in Saint John... highlights to the game can be found at the bottom of the Rocket's website. Select the Saint John highlight package.

QMJHL Game Sheet | Sea Dogs Website Recap | PEI Rocket Website Recap | Charlottetown Guardian Recap | SN Live Blog Replay

NEXT GAME
The second part of the Sea Dogs-Rocket home-and-home series goes tomorrow at 7pm at Harbour Station. All upper bowl tickets for this game are just $6.

Photo Credit: Mad props to SN reader Jeff Docherty for tweeting the picture