GAME DAY
Game Two, Round Three – President’s Cup Playoffs
Lewiston MAINEiacs vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight, April 23, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Harbour Station
PREVIEW
The Sea Dogs escaped with a 5-4 overtime win last night thanks to an epic third period comeback. Down 4-2 with less than six minutes to play Nathan Beaulieu and Tomas Jurco went into beast mode by scoring clutch goals to send the match into overtime. In the extra frame, Simon Despres setup Stephen MacAulay with an unreal pass through the crease to give Saint John the Game One victory.
Along with MacAulay, Jurco, and Beaulieu, Pierre Durepos and Steven Anthony scored single markers. Lewiston had goals from Matthew Bissonnette, Jess Tanguy, Kirill Kabanov, and Antoine Houde-Caron.
The game was a bit of a mess. Both teams had their chances and both teams had their mistakes.
For Saint John, they got outplayed for the most part in the second period and parts of the third frame. They definitely didn’t play a 60-minute game and looked a little disoriented at times with some of their plays. But today is a new day, and the Sea Dogs will look to pull it all together and take a 2-0 series lead this evening.
The Sea Dogs’ coaching staff pulled goaltender Jacob DeSerres and replaced him with Mathieu Corbeil during the third period media timeout. DeSerres didn’t play horribly, but the move seemed to spark Saint John a bit as they netted two goals following the replacement. Corbeil looked a little cold at times but also made some big saves.
Nicholas Champion was pretty solid in the Maineiacs net, allowing five goals on 31 shots. But there is no escaping his third period error when he came out to play the puck, giving it away to Tomas Jurco who had an open net to tie the game at 4-4.
Lewiston probably won’t be too worried after dropping last night’s game as they lost the opening game of both their first round and second round series. They know what it takes to comeback in a series.
The series shifts to Lewiston for Games Three and Four, making today’s game rather large for both teams.
Just remember, this is the playoffs, where anything can happen.
REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS
| Lewiston | Saint John | |
| Record | 40-24-1-3 (2nd East) | 58-7-1-2 (1st Maritimes) |
| Home Record | - - - | 32-0-1-1 |
| Road Record | 19-12-0-3 | - - - |
| Streak | 2-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Last 10 | 4-4-1-1 | 8-2-0-0 |
| Goals For | 265 | 324 |
| Goals Against | 223 | 165 |
| Goals/Game | 3.90 (3rd) | 4.76 (1st) |
| Goals Against/Game | 3.28 (10th) | 2.43 (1st) |
| Shots/Game | 36.81 (1st) | 36.81 (1st) |
| Shots Against/Game | 26.96 (5th) | 26.96 (5th) |
| Overall PP | 17.4% (13th) | 25.1% (6th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 24.4% (8th) |
| Road PP | 17.7% (13th) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 80.4% (6th) | 83.7% (1st) |
| Home PK | - - - | 86.1% (1st) |
| Road PK | 80.1% (7th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 17.7 (1st) | 13.1 (13th) |
SERIES SCHEDULE/RESULTS
GAME ONE – Lewiston 4, Saint John 5 (OT)
GAME TWO – Saturday, April 23: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME THREE – Tuesday, April 26: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 27: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 29: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SIX – Sunday, May 1: 8 p.m. @ Androscoggin Bank Colisee
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 3: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary
EXPECTED GOALTENDERS
For Saint John, Jacob DeSerres will likely get the call in goal. DeSerres had a record of 27-3-0-0 in the regular season with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage. In the playoffs, he is 7-1-0-0 with a 2.14 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage.
For Lewiston, Nicholas Champion. The former Acadie-Bathurst Titan had a record of 27-11-0-2 in the regular season to along with a 2.83 goals against average and a 0.897 save percentage. In the playoffs, he has a record of 8-1-3-0 with a 2.62 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage.
GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
WINNING THE FIRST ONE
The good news for the Sea Dogs – they have never lost a playoff series after winning the first game.
Playoff series where they have won the first game:
2008 round one vs PEI - 4-0 series winLOSING THE FIRST ONE
2008 round two vs Bathurst - 4-2 series win
2010 round one vs PEI - 4-1 series win
2010 round two vs Gatineau - 4-0 series win
2010 round three vs Victoriaville - 4-2 series win
The Maineiacs lost the first game of the series. Big deal.
Lewiston lost Game One of round one against Moncton by score of 4-1 but went on to win the next four games to take then series. Then in Game One of the second round in Montreal, the Maineiacs lost 6-5 in overtime but eventually took the series in six games.
Of note, Lewiston won Game Two of each of those series.
ON A ROLL
If this was the regular season, the Maineiacs would be on quite a roll right now. Unfortunately for them, overtime loses don’t gain you points in the post-season.
Since their Game One loss in the first round, Lewiston has not lost a game in regulation. Their two loses in the Montreal series and their loss last night were both in extra time, meaning they are on a 8-0-3-0 run.
OTHER GAMES TONIGHT
Gatineau at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT
THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,478
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,716
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal, Maine Hockey Journal
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) or follow the Live Blog on this site for live coverage of tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
Game Three of the series shifts to Lewiston on Tuesday. Game time is 8:00 pm at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, La Nouvelle Union
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