ROCKET SHOT DOWN AGAIN BY DOGS

SN RECAP
FINAL: Rocket 1, Sea Dogs 4

SAINT JOHN – It started slow, but finished fast.

The Saint John Sea Dogs had a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes but exploded for three goals in the final frame, defeating the Prince Edward Island Rocket 4-1 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

With the victory, the No. 1 team in the Canadian Hockey League has now won 10 straight games and improved to 16-0-0-1 on home ice.

It was rather uneventful first two periods of action. But two quick goals by Saint John in the third period seemed to spark both teams as the physical play picked along with the offense. The Sea Dogs, once again, were just that extra step above the Rocket and took the win.

Evan Mosher played rather well in the Rocket crease again, making 40 saves in the loss. Michael Ortika had the lone PEI goal.

Steven Anthony had a big night, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Stanislav Galiev and captain Mike Thomas added the singles. Simon Despres had two assists while goaltender Jacob DeSerres made 21 saves in net.

FIRST PERIOD
Steven Anthony had the best chance early when he took a Jonathan Huberdeau pass and had a brief breakaway. Anthony made his move but was absolutely robbed by the glove of Rocket netminder Evan Mosher.

A few minutes later, Danick Gauthier nailed Jean-Laurence Beauchemin in the corner by the PEI goal. The Rocket defenseman slowly got back to the bench and headed down the tunnel to the dressing room.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 7:10 when Jamie MacIntyre was called for high sticking. Saint John had a great chance, ripping a shot off the crossbar. PEI then had a solid opportunity while shorthanded as Samuel Morneau let a wrist shot go that beat Jacob DeSerres and sat on the goal line before being cleared away. The Dogs had some good power play pressure following that but could not score.

Mike Thomas ran over Andrej Nestrasil in the neutral zone at 9:38 and was called for elbowing, getting a loud chorus of boos from the light Harbour Station crowd. The Rocket couldn’t get much going on the power play, allowing Michael Kirkpatrick to feed Anthony on a shorthanded two-on-one chance. Anthony had the puck just get away from his stick, though, and couldn’t get a shot off.

After the penalty expired, Zach Phillips came down the wing and let a hard wrist shot go that was stopped by the shoulder of Mosher. Then, Jonathan Huberdeau put on a clinic, making some unreal moves to get around Matthew Hobbs above the crease but was denied by Mosher.

Shots in the first frame were 16-7 Saint John.

SECOND PERIOD
Just 11 seconds into the second period, Phillips dropped a pass for Steven Anthony in the offensive zone. The Vancouver Canucks prospect beat Mosher glove side with a hard shot to give the Sea Dogs a 1-0 .

The Rocket had a good chance a few minutes later. A pass from along the boards found an open Morneau in front who was all alone. But Sea Dogs ‘tender Jacob DeSerres made the pad save to keep his squad in the lead.

Saint John went back to the power play at 6:33. A point shot produced a rebound that went to Stanislav Galiev in front but he missed the net. Then Pierre Durepos centered for Galiev but went wide of the cage once again on a decent Sea Dogs man advantage.

Then some rather dull back-and-forth action took place for several minutes, featuring neither team doing much offensively.

The Sea Dogs began to get a bit messy with their play and took a penalty at 14:54. With Simon Despres in the box, the Rocket had a couple of good chances. Matthew Hobbs let a point shot go through traffic that was stopped in front. Then, Adam Polasek let a shot go that produced a rebound a rebound, only to have it miss all of his Rocket teammates.

PEI began to take the game over late in the frame. Ben Duffy centered for a streaking Rocket but he was tied up and couldn’t get wood on it. Then, Morneau picked up the puck after a Saint John turnover and had a partial breakaway. But DeSerres stood his ground, making the pad save and keeping the Sea Dogs’ lead.

Shots in the second stanza were 10-4 in favour of the home team.

THIRD PERIOD
The Rocket had a full two minute power play to open the frame because a Thomas penalty carried over. But it wouldn’t matter as the Rocket could get nothing going on the power play.

Saint John got some pressure going when the penalty expired. A scramble in the crease involved Anthony and Phillips but neither could jam the puck past Mosher before it was cleared away.

The Sea Dogs doubled their lead when Huberdeau centered the puck at 4:38. Galiev found the disc and beat Mosher low glove side to give Saint John a 2-0 lead.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Anthony entered the zone and let a shot go from the high slot area. The puck hit Mosher’s glove and fell into the crease, just creeping across the goal line. The goal went under a brief review but it was ruled to be legit.

After some four-on-four play expired, the Rocket got on the board at 8:20. A pass found Michael Ortika who had just crossed the blue line. Ortika fired a shot on goal from the wing with DeSerres getting a piece of it with his glove - but not enough. The puck flew into the corner of the net to make it a 3-1 game.

But Saint John got the three goal lead right back. At 9:47, Anthony centered the puck from the behind the goal line to Thomas in front who made it a 4-1 match.

The rough stuff picked up after that. Thomas ran over Cody Linteau along the boards. Then, Morneau and Ryan Tesink were featured a big collision.

Galiev fed Huberdeau a few minutes later who broke into the crease area. But Mosher was there, knocking the puck off his stick with his pads. Shortly after, a scramble in the crease allowed Kirkpatrick to find the back of the net. But the goal was immediately waved off and Stephen MacAulay was escorted to the box. All this at 18:08.

At 18:44, Gauthier and Linteau got into a tussle in front of the penalty boxes. Gauthier got a clear win, throwing some big time punches around the head region of Linteau. Gauthier was tossed from the game and picked up an instigator penalty as well.

That would be all for this one as Saint John went on to win 4-1.

Shots in the third period were 18-9 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs went 0/1 on the power play while the Rocket went 0/4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Lewiston Friday to play the MAINEiacs at 8:00 pm.