FINAL: Mooseheads 3, Sea Dogs 5
SAINT JOHN – Well, it wasn’t what most expected going in.
The top ranked team in the country taking on the team that is barely hanging onto the final playoff spot in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League seemed like a mismatch. But the cellar dwelling Halifax Mooseheads put on a solid show, outplaying – and outshooting - the Saint John Sea Dogs for much of the match.
But it was clear why Moosehead fans are so frustrated with their club. Despite outshooting the Sea Dogs 46-35 in Sunday afternoons contest at Harbour Station, the Mooseheads fell to Saint John 5-3. That included outshooting the Dogs 18-8 in the first period and 21-7 in the second frame.
The Mooseheads had goals courtesy of Darcy Ashley, Trey Lewis, and Luca Ciampini. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil made 30 saves in the loss.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice for the Sea Dogs while singles came from Zach Phillips, Kevin Gagne, and Mike Thomas. Jacob DeSerres faced plenty of rubber for the first time in some time, making 43 saves for the win.
Luckily for the Sea Dogs, their offense was very opportunistic when it had to be in this game. Saint John has now struggled a bit over their past four games, something the Sea Dogs coaching staff will no doubt try to fix before going to Cape Breton next weekend.
It was definitely one of the better performances by the Mooseheads against the Sea Dogs over the past two seasons. The club has been playing somewhat better lately, almost defeating the powerful Quebec Remparts last night.
FIRST PERIOD
Danick Gauthier centered the puck from behind the net in the opening minutes of the game, but Stephen MacAulay couldn’t get wood on it. The Mooseheads then went to the power play at 1:11, but despite some good pressure, Halifax could not get on the board.
After Jacob DeSerres denied a couple of Mooseheads in close with the pad, Gabriel Desjardins came down the wing and let a shot go that forced DeSerres to come out and make a nice stop with the leg again.
Ryan Tesink had the first great chance in the game. Gabriel Bourret let a point shot go that was stopped by Mathieu Corbeil. The rebound went out in front for Tesink but couldn’t get a great shot off with Corbeil flopping around in the paint.
The Sea Dogs made it a 1-0 game at 12:03. Jonathan Huberdeau fed Steven Anthony from behind the net. Anthony stood along the goal line and sent a cross crease pass to Zach Phillips on the opposite side of the net who had an open cage to make it 1-0.
49 seconds later, Phillips fed Huberdeau in front who beat Corbeil to make it a 2-0 Sea Dogs lead just like that.
Pierre Durepos was called for high sticking at 13:17, giving the Mooseheads another power play. Charles Bety had the best chance, beating DeSerres but not the post. Halifax had a great man advantage, putting some quality pressure on.
Not long after Durepos failed to register on a two-on-one opportunity, the Sea Dogs went to the power play at 16:19 but could not get anything going.
At 18:35, Guillaume Cloutier was called for interference, but Saint John would escape the first period with a 2-0 lead.
Shots in the opening frame were 18-8 Halifax.
SECOND PERIOD
It was a penalty filled second frame of hockey. After the Mooseheads failed to score on the power play, Halifax had another chance at 1:05 when Danick Gauthier was called for tripping - but the Moose could not get on the board.
Saint John then went to a two-man power play chance with Bety and Sawyer Hannay in the box. On the man advantage, Kevin Gagne fired a wrist shot from the inner rim of the faceoff circle that beat Corbeil to give Saint John a 3-0 lead.
The Sea Dogs were called for too many men at 5:56. On the power play, former Sea Dog Pascal Amyot let a shot go wide that bounced off the boards. The puck came out in front for Francis Turbide who was denied by DeSerres at the side of the crease.
With the man advantage over, Gabriel Desjardins had a clear shooting lane from just inside the line but sent the disc high of the net region.
Guillaume Cloutier and Huberdeau both took high sticking penalties at 13:21 in separate incidents. On the 5-on-3 opportunity, a shot was stopped by DeSerres but he produced a rebound. Darcy Ashley found the puck at the side of net and had an open cage to get the Herd on the board and make it a 3-1 game.
Konrad Abeltshauser then had pretty decent opportunity when he sort of slapped the puck at the line and had a nice deflection put on it but ended up going wide of the net.
Gerrad Grant took a cross-checking penalty at 17:40. Just as it was expiring, Tesink had the puck in front and was stopped nicely by the pad of Corbeil.
Once again in this period, the Mooseheads dominated the shot clock, outshooting the most offensively dangerous team in the QMJHL 21-7.
THIRD PERIOD
To start the third period, Phillips fired a shot on net that produced a rebound in the direction of Huberdeau but he was stopped in front by Corbeil.
The Sea Dogs were called for too many men once again at 3:49, giving the Herd yet another power play. On that man advantage, Trey Lewis ripped a point shot past DeSerres to make it a one goal game with lots of time left.
But the Sea Dogs started to turn things on following the goal. On a power play, Tomas Jurco let a one timer go from the circle but was stopped by Corbeil. With the man advantage now over, Tesink went one-on-one with a Moosehead defenseman, making a nice spin move to a get backhand shot off that went wide. Then Stanislav Galiev fed Michael Kirkpatrick for a partial break but fired a shot wide.
Not long after Corbeil made a terrific stop on Huberdeau in front, Lewis took a tripping penalty at 14:51. On the power play, Kirkpatrick sent a cross ice feed to Huberdeau at the side of the net to give the Sea Dogs a 4-2 lead and some breathing room.
After Saint John couldn’t score on a five-on-three, the Mooseheads were able to pull Corbeil in dying minutes in favour of the extra attacker. But the Moose couldn’t get a goal, allowing Mike Thomas to record an empty net marker at 19:37.
But Halifax didn’t go away. Rookie Luca Ciampini scored a late goal at 19:46 to get the Herd back within two. But it was too-little-too-late for Halifax as Saint John went on to win 5-3.
Shots in the third were 20-7 Saint John.
Both the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads went 2/8 on the power play.
NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Sydney to face the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Friday at 7:00 pm.
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