FINAL: Screaming Eagles 1, Sea Dogs 7
SAINT JOHN – It was only a matter of time before Jonathan Huberdeau found the back of the cage.
Huberdeau had four assists in Saint John’s 10-0 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Friday night, but the Sea Dogs' leading scorer in the regular season couldn't register a goal. On Saturday night, the 17-year old was the one doing the direct damage as he scored three times in the Sea Dogs’ 7-1 win over the Eagles at Harbour Station.
The win puts Saint John up 2-0 in the best-of-seven first round playoff series. The series now hits the road for Games Three and Four on Tuesday and Wednesday at Centre 200. Game Five, if necessary, shifts back to Saint John.
In Game Two, Stanislav Galiev, Michael Kirkpatrick, Steven Anthony, and Simon Despres also scored to go along with Huberdeau’s hat trick. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres was tested more during warm-up than in the game itself, stopping 14-of-15 shots for his second straight playoff victory.
Cape Breton scored their first goal of the series in the second period as Olivier Jodoin finally solved DeSerres. But that would be all the offense they could generate. Andrew Hayes, who started Friday’s game as well, played the full 60 minutes and allowed seven goals on 40 shots.
It wasn’t as dominating as Friday’s game, but the Sea Dogs still played a step above and then some against the Eagles. Cape Breton had a few scattered scoring opportunities, but they were never much of a match for the Dogs.
But on a positive note for Cape Breton, they did play a bit better and didn’t completely collapse in a 20-minute span like they did on Friday
Saint John has now outscored Cape Breton 17-1 in the first two games of the first round series.
With Morgan Ellis in the box, Huberdeau made it 1-0 Saint John just 1:49 into the first period. A cross ice feed hit the leg of a Cape Breton defenseman but the puck still got to Huberdeau who had a wide open cage to open the scoring.
The Sea Dogs wouldn’t strike again until almost 20 minutes later. At 1:40 of the middle frame, Galiev made some spin move to get around an Eagle and make some space. He then wired a wrist shot beat Hayes high blocker side to give Saint John a 2-0 lead.
Huberdeau scored his second of the match on another power play at 9:37. A Nathan Beaulieu point shot was stopped by Hayes but the Sea Dogs sniper was parked in front and banged the disc in to make it 3-0.
After some sweet passes, Kirkpatrick found the score sheet at 10:11 with a snipe job that beat Hayes high glove side to give Saint John a 4-0 advantage.
DeSerres would allow his first goal of the post-season at 13:31. Wes Herrett was stopped but Jodoin backhanded the rebounded past the Sea Dogs netminder to get Cape Breton on the board after 133 minutes and 31 seconds of being held scoreless in the series.
In the third, Beaulieu nearly made it 5-1 as his blast hit the crossbar.
Not long after Beaulieu’s opportunity, a cross ice feed from Zack Phillips found Huberdeau at 5:00 to complete the hat trick. It was one of Phillips' three assists in the game.
Saint John would keep the pressure on after the marker. At 7:39, Alexandre Beauregard dropped the puck back to Tomas Jurco. The Slovakian’s shot missed the mark but floated behind the goal. Jurco then flipped the disc to an open Simon Despres who scored on the strange play to make it a 6-1 game. It was an odd marker as the officials called the goal off, but after some chatting, ruled it a good goal.
The Sea Dogs closed out the scoring at 11:18 of the final frame. Some hard work along the back boards by Scott Oke allowed the puck to come free. Oke then sent the puck in front for a wide open Steven Anthony who sent a low, wide range shot that beat Hayes to make it a 7-1 final.
Saint John went 2-for-5 on the man advantage while Cape Breton went 0-for-6.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs head to Sydney to face the Screaming Eagles in Game Three on Tuesday at 7:00 pm.
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