Final Score: Saint John 4, Halifax 3
Saint John Goals: Jonathan Huberdeau (34), Michael Kirkpatrick (23, 24), and Zack Phillips (30)
Halifax Goals: Charles Bety (20, 21) and Gerrad Grant (6)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Mathieu Corbeil
Losing Goaltenders: HAL – Anthony Terenzio
News 88.9 Top Dog: Mathieu Corbeil
THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Mooseheads: 0/4, Sea Dogs: 2/7
Shots on Goal: Mooseheads: 8+10+6=24, Sea Dogs: 11+13+6=30
Length: 2:32
Attendance: 6,779
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
For the second straight game, defenseman Simon Despres and forward Alexandre Beauregard were out of the lineup with “minor lower body injuries.” Forward Jason Cameron was a healthy scratch even after scoring in Friday’s game in Moncton.
DOGS DOWN MOOSE 4-3
The Halifax Mooseheads proved to be a stiff test for the Saint John Sea Dogs – but they weren’t good enough. A four-goal second period led the top-ranked team in the nation to a 4-3 victory over the Mooseheads Saturday night in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
The Mooseheads, who have given the Sea Dogs quite a bit of trouble over the past two seasons, got out to a quick start but couldn’t keep the momentum going. Saint John’s big guns took over the match in the second period which would prove to be all the Dogs would need to earn their ninth straight victory.
“We came out strong, the way we wanted to come out,” former Sea Dogs defenseman Pascal Amyot said of the Mooseheads performance to Metro Halifax. “They obviously adjusted in the second period and maybe the intensity dropped a little bit, but overall we can’t be disappointed because we played a solid game against a solid team.”
Charles Bety scored just 43 seconds in as he sniped a shot top corner on Saint John netminder Mathieu Corbeil to give the Herd an early 1-0 lead. At 13:52, Bety struck again as went around the net, walked out in front, and then sailed the disc over a down Corbeil to give Moose Country something to cheer about.
But in the second, the Sea Dogs offense awoke as Jonathan Huberdeau kicked things off by recording his 34th of the year just 27 seconds in on a power play to make it 2-1. Then, at 4:19 on another power play, Michael Kirkpatrick evened the affair at 2-2. Gerrad Grant gave the Moose a one-goal lead again at 7:55 but the Sea Dogs would respond with Zack Phillips scoring at 9:53 thanks to a great dish from Huberdeau. Kirkpatrick gave Saint John their first lead of the hockey game at 18:16 and would not look back as the Dogs skated on to victory.
“The good start was really important," said Mooseheads defenseman Anthony Goulet to the Chronicle Herald. "The coach (Bobby Smith) said we needed that and we got that. We were so close so we are (angry) right now.
"Yes, we feel good about the way we played but we are still mad because we know we could have won this game."
Halifax had their struggles in the third period trying to tie the match. They had difficulty getting the puck out of the zone for several minutes late in the affair and then took a deadly too many men call in the dying seconds.
Mathieu Corbeil got his first start against his old team last night at the Metro Centre. The sacred Sea Dogs goaltending rotation was broken on Friday, allowing the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect to get the start in the building he once called home.
Corbeil played okay. He wasn’t great, but wasn’t awful. He allowed a goal in the first minute which surly deflated the Sea Dogs in the early goings. The third goal against was a weak one as Gerrad Grant threw the puck on goal from the goal line and somehow snuck through Corbeil’s pads.
“We know Corbeil’s weaknesses … We know he gives up lots of rebounds, we know his high glove, he’s got to work on that a little bit,” Charles Bety, who scored twice, said to Metro Halifax. “We tried to shoot as many pucks as possible … but it wasn’t enough for a win.”
Corbeil did make some key stops though and was, obviously, good enough to get the win. His new blue equipment also made their first game appearance.
THE OFFICIALS
The officials had a bad night on Saturday. They called some borderline stuff against the Mooseheads and missed a few calls against Saint John. It just wasn’t your typical QMJHL called hockey game. It was weird.
At the end of the day, Saint John went 2-for-7 on the power play while Halifax went 0-for-4.
We are just happy there were no riots at the Metro Centre.
MOOSE MOVING IN RIGHT DIRECTION
They’ve had their struggles this year, but the Mooseheads have been playing much better of late. As evident in yesterday’s game, the Mooseheads didn’t play like the team that was blown-out 9-2 by Saint John earlier this year.
Halifax entered the game on a two-game winning streak which included a fairly large 5-2 upset win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Wednesday. The Herd have now won three of their past five games.
JERSEY FOUL
From our boy Justin Dickie on Twitter, a horrific jersey foul was spotted at the Metro Centre last night. Apparently, you don’t have to pass a spelling test to be a fan of Anthony Terenzio.
THOMAS VS HANNAY
Pretty good fight in the third period as Mike Thomas and Sawyer Hannay dropped the gloves.
Hannay was tossed for “taking off one's own helmet or attempting to pull off an opponent's helmet, undo the chinstrap or his opponent's.” For whatever reason, Thomas was not disciplined for his jersey almost completely coming off.
STILL ROLLING
With the win, the Sea Dogs have now won nine straight games. Saint John won 10 games earlier this season which ties them with Lewiston and Quebec for the season high in the QMJHL this year.
Saint John is currently on an impressive 15-0-1-0 run and are 9-0-1-0 in their past 10 games. They have yet to lose a game in regulation in the year 2011.
DYNAMIC DUO STRIKES AGAIN
Some unreal stats from Matthew Wuest at Metro Halifax:
Huberdeau (eight goals and 12 assists) and Phillips (eight goals and six assists) have sliced and diced the Herd’s defence for a combined 34 points in seven games this season.QUICK HITS
This was the Sea Dogs’ final game in Halifax this season. They went 4-0 at the Metro Centre… the Sea Dogs Fan Bus made the trip to the game. It was a success… eight of the Mooseheads’ next nine games are on the road thanks in most part to the Metro Centre being used for the 2011 Canada Winter Games… defenseman Simon Desmarais and forward Alex Souligny were healthy scratches for the Mooseheads… Brent Andrews was the only Moosehead player with a minus rating… Jonathan Huberdeau had a team high five shots for Saint John… Charles Bety had a team high give shots for Halifax… Stanislav Galiev was a team worst -3 for the Dogs… Huberdeau, with 80 points, is now just seven points back of Philip-Michael Devos for the league scoring lead… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
OUT OF TOWN
Rouyn-Noranda 0 at Baie-Comeau 4
Victoriaville 3 at Chicoutimi 5
Drummondville 1 at Acadie-Bathurst 5
PEI 5 at Moncton 2
Cape Breton 0 at Lewiston 6
Gatineau 3 at Québec 6
Rimouski 2 at Val-d'Or 3
There was a mascot fight in Lewiston:
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs travel to Prince Edward Island to face the Rocket on Friday at 7pm.
Photo Credits: Richard Lafortune, Richard Lafortune, Justin Dickie
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