SEA DOGS – REMPARTS GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Saint John 4, Quebec 2
Saint John Goals: Stanislav Galiev (30), Michael Kirkpatrick (19), Zack Phillips (28), and Alexandre Beauregard (6)
Quebec Goals: Axel Rioux (7) and Ryan Bourque (23)
Winning Goaltender: Jacob DeSerres
Losing Goaltenders: Louis Domingue
News 88.9 Top Dog: Simon Despres
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Remparts: 0/4, Sea Dogs: 1/2
Shots on Goal: Remparts: 13+5+5=23, Sea Dogs: 11+8+15=34
Length: 2:19
Attendance: 12,571
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Forwards Jason Cameron and Aidan Kelly along with defenseman Jason Seed were all healthy scratches as Saint John iced a more traditional lineup for the first time on the road trip. Previously, Nathan Beaulieu, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco all got the night off Friday while Steven Anthony, Scott Oke, and Ryan Tesink did not dress Saturday in Chicoutimi.
BRING OUT THE BROOMS. DOGS WIN.
The Saint John Sea Dogs produced three wins in as many days as the No. 1 ranked team in Canada closed out their weekend road trip with a 4-2 win in Quebec City against the Remparts.
In what was expected to be an intense game Quebec Major Junior Hockey League titans, the Sunday afternoon match did not disappoint. Both teams had their chances in the back-and-forth affair that saw Zack Phillips score the game winning goal in the dying seconds of the second period.
"We were really happy with our game,'' Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal. "For the most part we played a full 60-minute game. Our third period was probably our best, which is really positive since it was the end of a three-in-three (third game in three days).''
Saint John scored the all important first goal of the match just 55 seconds in as Stanislav Galiev capitalized on a scoring chance to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead. The Remparts would tie the match at 6:32 as Alex Wall showed some patience and walked around goaltender Jacob DeSerres and then dishing a perfect feed to Axel Rioux who had a yawning cage.
Saint John retook the lead at 15:58 as Michael Kirkpatrick let a backhand shot on goal that snuck past Remparts netminder Louis Domingue to give the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead after 20-minutes.
50 seconds into the second period, Ryan Bourque sprung loose on a breakaway and beat DeSerres with a move to his backhand. Neither team had great opportunities to score in the middle frame as the two teams combined to fire just 13 shots on net. Finally, with seven seconds remaining in the period and Saint John a power play, Phillips flipped the puck over Domingue to give the visitors a 3-2 advantage.
In the third, Alexandre Beauregard scored an insurance marker at 14:30 to insure a Saint John victory. The Sea Dogs showed no signs of fatigue in the final frame as they were able to outshoot the Remparts 15-5.
For the second time this season, the Saint John Sea Dogs swept a three-in-three Quebec road trip. The trek started on Friday with a 3-2 win in Baie-Comeau and continued Saturday evening with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
Yesterday was probably the Sea Dogs’ best game of the three as they were finally able to – for the most part - play a complete game. Saint John also showed no signs of fatigue in yesterday’s game as they were able to outshoot the Remparts 15-5 in the third period.
Saint John’s final three-in-three Quebec road swing goes down in the final weekend of February when the team visits Gatineau, Victoriaville, and Shawinigan.
SURGING SEA DOGS
Saint John currently finds themselves on one of their hottest stretches of the season. The Sea Dogs are 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 games, picking up at least a point over their past 10 outings.
The head-to-head matchup with the Remparts was also key as the win pulled Saint John farther ahead in the overall standings. Saint John is now six-points up on the second-place Montreal Juniors and eight points up on the third-place Remparts. The Dogs have a game-in-hand over both of those clubs.
HUBERDEAU GOES DOWN
Sea Dogs leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau took a stick in the face in the third period and left the ice bleeding. After some quick repairs, Huberdeau returned to the game with a full cage on. There was no penalty on the play.
According to Sea Dogs equipment manager David Kelly (who you should be following on Twitter: @SeaDogsDK), Huberdeau required three stitches.
RED HOT RUSSIAN
How about Stanislav Galiev? The Russian sophomore failed to score in five straight games between New Years Eve and January 11. But the Washington Capitals prospect has since been on a tear – and having Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips as his linemates likely has been a big boost for him.
In his last five games, Galiev has six goals and failed to score in just one of those games. In the month of January, the winger has six goals and four assists in 10 games.
REALITY SHOW JUNK
A big ole hockey reality show was filmed at the Pepsi Colisee a few hours after the end of this game. As a result, there were some light fixtures hanging from the rafters that are not usually present and, as Le Soleil reports, the Sea Dogs were unable to use their usual dressing room as visitors.
The Sea Dogs had to deal with a reality show in Montreal last season as well. There was a delay to start the game because the regular arena lights would not turn on.
The series that features a team from Montreal taking on a team from Quebec City saw the visitors take a 2-1 win. The crew at Hockey Station have a recap.
Saint John goaltender Jacob DeSerres deserves some credit for the win. Although he only faced 23 shots, DeSerres made some big stops to keep momentum going for the Sea Dogs in the close affair.
From the Telegraph-Journal:
Aside from the quality penalty killing, Gallant credited DeSerres for his focus during Quebec's two-man advantage in the first.DeSerres is now 18-2-0-0 since joining the Sea Dogs.
"Sometimes your best penalty killer is your goaltender,'' the bench boss said. "He made some key saves at a key point in the game.”
QUICK HITS
Zack Phillips now owns the team lead in goals as he notched his 28th of the year yesterday. He was the lone Sea Dog who played in Wednesday’s Top Prospects Game to play in all three games on the road trip… yesterday’s game was the seventh time this season that the Remparts had over 12,000 fans at a game… Quebec Winter Carnival mascot Bonhomme participated in the ceremonial puck drop. What a beast… Frederick Roy was suspended for this game which forced Axel Rioux to the top line, reports Le Soleil… Quebec has now lost two straight… the Sea Dogs won the season series against the Remparts, winning the two games and outscoring Quebec 10-2… Jonathan Huberdeau was booed at times by the Remparts faithfull… Quebec, who has the top power play in the league, went 0-for-4 on the man advantage… Alexandre Beauregard of all people led the Sea Dogs in shots with five… Tomas Filippi led the way in shots for the Remparts with seven… the lines were mixed up a bit at times but stayed generally the same as they were last weekend… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog.
OUT OF TOWN
Moncton 5 at PEI 4
Victoriaville 4 at Cape Breton 1
Gatineau 0 at Montréal 2
Lewiston 3 at Rimouski 1
BALL HOCKEY
From the Sea Dogs website:
The Saint John Sea Dogs and the Saint John YM-YWCA invite you to a fun night of ball hockey Tuesday at the Forest Glen Community Centre.NEXT GAME
Sea Dogs players will join local youth from 6 to 8 p.m. at the centre, located at 651 Westmorland Road. Players ages five to nine will play from 6 to 7 p.m., while players 10 to 15 go from 7 to 8 p.m. Admission is free but donations will be accepted for the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. All players must bring a helmet and plastic blade stick.
For more information, please contact Heather Oldfield at 658-2816 or forestglen@saintjohny.com
The Sea Dogs travel to Moncton on Thursday for another installment of the 2010-11 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup. Game time is 7:00 pm.
Photo Credits: Le Soleil, some broom website, Quebec Hebdo
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