FINAL (OT): Wildcats 4, Sea Dogs 5
SAINT JOHN – Bring out the brooms.
For the first time in team history, the Saint John Sea Dogs swept their season series with the Moncton Wildcats, winning all eight contests against their biggest rival. The latest came Friday night at Harbour Station as the Saint John downed Moncton 5-4 in overtime.
Stanislav Galiev scored 16 seconds into the extra frame to give the Dogs the extra point. Danick Gauthier, Michael Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Mike Thomas all scored in regulation. Mathieu Corbeil made 23 saves in goal.
It wasn’t a perfect game by any means for either team. Both clubs were sloppy at times and both were able to capitalize off some of those errors. Saint John never fell behind at any point, but the Wildcats kept battling and were able to stick around with the Sea Dogs once again.
In the season series, three of the eight games went into extra time.
The Wildcats had a pair of goals from Ted Stephens while Cole MacMillan and Marek Hrivik also scored. Goaltnder Brandon Thibeau made 31 stops in net.
FIRST PERIOD
Danick Gauthier had the first opportunity of the match as he went in alone but was stopped by the shoulder of Moncton Wildcats netminder Brandon Thibeau.
Saint John made it a 1-0 game at 2:06. Ryan Tesink was behind the goal and threw the puck in front. Danick Gauthier was able to bang the puck in in the crease to give the Dogs an early lead.
A few moments later, Alex Saulnier came down the win and sent a hard shot on net but was gloved by Saint John goaltender Mathieu Corbeil. Then, the Sea Dogs had a decent chance as Zack Phillips fired a innocent looking shot on net that hit the mask of Thibeau but stayed out.
Moncton tied the match up at 4:12. Ted Stephens let a shot on goal that produced a big rebound, allowing Cole MacMillan to score on an empty cage.
The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 7:32 as Brandon Gormley headed off for slashing. On the man advantage, Nathan Beaulieu fired a shot from between the circles that was stopped. But the rebound was grabbed by Michael Kirkpatrick who went up high on Thibeau to make it a 2-1 game.
With the power play over, Phillips sent a beautiful cross crease pass from the corner to Stanislav Galiev in front but was unable to get a stick on it.
Moncton went to the power play at 11:43 and they tie the affair up again. At 11:51, Marek Hrivik had several opportunities in close and finally got one under Corbeil to make it 2-2.
But Saint John would have another power play soon after. On that man advantage at 14:21, Beaulieu sent an unreal pass from the point down low to Jonathan Huberdeau who scored on the open cage to make it a 3-2 Sea Dogs lead.
The penalties didn’t end there as some rough stuff at 14:49 gave Moncton a man advantage. Their best chance came when Gormley sent a point shot on net through some traffic but Corbeil was there to make the save.
Soon after, Phillips had another good chance on a wraparound but hit the side of the cage.
Shots in the first period were 14-12 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
The Sea Dogs started the second period on a power play that carried over from the first. But Saint John couldn’t get things rolling on the fresh ice and failed to extend their lead,
Ted Stephens then had a good chance in front for the Wildcats as he let loose a one-time wrist shot that was stopped by a stretched out Corbeil. After the stop, Saint John came back the other way with Galiev leading the charge. He gave a nice saucer pass to an open Tomas Jurco but he bobbled the puck and couldn’t get a great shot off.
Saint John went back to the man advantage at 7:38. Jurco had a break early on but sent the shot wide of the cage. That would prove to be the best chance of the man advantage.
Moncton had a power play of their own at 10:31. The Wildcats would make the Sea Dogs pay for their error as Stephens tied the match at 3-3 at 12:06. Stephens came across the blue line and sniped the disc up and over the shoulder of Corbeil.
On yet another man advantage at 12:11, one of the Saulnier’s sent a backhand shot from the goal line that was sent in the crease and was eventually cleared out of danger. But the danger did not end as Jonathan Huberdeau was sent to the box at 12:59, giving the ‘Cats a two man power play. But, Saint John would kill all of the penalties off.
With the Wildcats man advantage just over, Mike Thomas was given a gift following a brutal turnover by Daniel Milan. Thomas picked up the puck and sniped one past Thibeau to make it a 4-3 Sea Dogs game.
Late in the period after Saint John couldn’t score on yet another power play, Ryan Tesink tipped a shot on Thibeau who sticked the disc away.
Shots in the middle frame were 11-9 Sea Dogs.
THIRD PERIOD
In the third, Simon Jodoin walked into the zone and made some moves to get around the traffic in front. He managed to get a solid shot off that produced a big rebound but was taken and carried out of the danger zone by a Saint John defenseman.
Scott Oke then had a good scoring opportunity for Saint John by cutting out in front and whistling a backhand shot just wide of the net. A few minutes later, the Dogs went to the power play but couldn’t get anything generated, causing some unrest among the Sea Dogs faithful at Harbour Station.
Soon after, Huberdeau sent a crisp cross crease pass to Galiev but the Russian was unable to get a shot off.
The Wildcats finally tied the match at 15:37. Moncton had a short two-on-one with Stephens keeping the puck and walking around the Saint John defense, followed by patiently outwaiting Corbeil and dishing the disc into the empty net to make it a 4-4 game.
Nothing happened after that.
Shots in the third were 9-6 Saint John.
OVERTIME
Saint John meant business in overtime. Just 16 seconds in, Simon Despres sent the original shot on goal and Galiev picked up the garbage to give the Dogs a 5-4 win.
Shots on the extra frame were 2-0 Sea Dogs.
Moncton went 2-for-5 on the man advantage while Saint John went 2-for-6.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
The Sea Dogs were a bit short on the backend as Kevin Gagne was out with the flu and Eric Gelinas was out with a charley horse. Defenseman Tyrone Sock was called up to help fill the void.
Forwards Jason Cameron and Aidan Kelly were also out.
NEXT GAME
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are in town tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
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