RECAP
SAINT JOHN – In the biggest game in team history, the Saint John Sea Dogs didn’t come to play.
"We didn't have a good start,'' Stephen MacAulay said of the game to the Canadian Press. "We didn't come ready to play at all. We just didn't want it as much as they did. We weren't skating. We were kind of on our heels. We played not to lose instead of playing to win. When you're up 3-1 in the series, you can't let your foot off the gas.''
The Gatineau Olympiques forced a Game Six with a 3-2 victory on Friday night at Harbour Station. The Sea Dogs now lead the series 3-2 and will have another chance to clinch the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League crown on Sunday night.
On Friday, the Olympiques outplayed Saint John in just about every aspect of the game. Saint John couldn’t get anything going and could never match the playing level of Gatineau.
Gatineau opened the scoring at 3:19 on a power play as Christian Ouellet ripped the puck past the shoulder of Sea Dogs netminder Jacob DeSerres to make it 1-0. They doubled their lead at 11:53 as Adam Janosik cut through the crease and slid the disc past DeSerres to make it 2-0.
Saint John finally connected at 14:37 of the middle stanza. An Eric Gelinas point shot went through some traffic and beat Gatineau goaltender Maxime Clermont up high to make it a one-goal affair. Then, at 16:38, the Sea Dogs tied it at 2-2 as MacAulay tipped one past Clermont.
Even with the game tied again, the Sea Dogs couldn’t get much going in the final frame. At the 10-minute mark, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored a similar goal as Janosik did, cutting through the crease and beating DeSerres five-hole to give Gatineau a 3-2 advantage.
In the final minutes, Saint John had some pressure on but couldn’t tie it up.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
The Sea Dogs were without the services of three forwards: Zack Phillips, Steven Anthony, and Jason Cameron. From the Telegraph-Journal:
Meanwhile, Dogs forward Zack Phillips missed Friday's game with an injury and his status is day-to-day. Saint John forwards Steven Anthony and Jason Cameron also missed the contest, both with lower-body injuries.Phillips and Cameron both suffered injuries on Wednesday while Anthony missed his fourth straight contest.
HOME WOES
For the first time in a long, long time the Sea Dogs have lost two straight games on home ice.
Saint John fell 3-2 last Saturday in Game Two of the final to make it two straight home loses. The Sea Dogs have struggled in all three games of this series held at Harbour Station. They are 2-1 and have been outscored 7-6.
The Dogs are now 6-3-0-0 on home ice after going to entire regular season without a loss at Harbour Station.
The positive for Saint John going into Game Six – they have not lost on the road this post-season.
CLERMONT DOES IT AGAIN
Gatineau goaltender Maxime Clermont was solid in net yet again, making 25 stops in the win.
He didn’t face as many shots as he has in other games, but he made a few timely stops to keep momentum going in his team’s favour. Saint John’s two goals came on screen and a screened deflection. It’s become clear that if he can see it, he can stop it.
The New Jersey Devils prospect now has a 0.925 save percentage and 2.25 goals against average.
Saint John goaltender Jacob DeSerres played well but was beaten twice on the same move.
RESPECT GERRY DEE
Nothing but respect for comedian Gerry Dee who had a show at the Imperial Theatre during the Sea Dogs game. He tweeted this before the game:
Show in Saint John tonight. Sea Dogs playing on the same night. I will lose that battle LOL. Hoping for the overflow. Still great numbersAnd after the game:
I gotta say, Saint John is a hidden gem of a city. Loving what I see so far. Good luck to the Sea Dogs tonight. See you in Mississauga
Wicked crowd in Saint John tonight. Sorry the Sea Dogs lost for ya. Over in 6. Off to Fredericton.OFFENSE GOES QUIET
The Saint John offense had a dreadful night and couldn’t get much of anything going. They had a couple of stretches of sustained pressure but that was about it.
The Sea Dogs were without the services of two of their top six forwards in Steven Anthony and Zack Phillips. The likes of Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco, and Michael Kirkpatrick struggled to generate anything.
Kirkpatrick returned the lineup for the first time since Game Four of the semifinals but didn't look 100%. He recorded no points, two shots, won six face-offs, and had a hit.
CUP STOPS AT TIM HORTONS
The President’s Cup was in the building last night but now it’s heading back to Gatineau. The QMJHL made a stop at a Tim Horton’s in Riviere-du-Loup and showed off the cup for some reason. They tweeted a pic:
ANOTHER BIG GOAL
Stephen MacAulay scored yet another clutch goal, tying the game at 2-2 in the second period on a nice deflection. He was given an honourbale mention in the Buzzing The Net three star awards.
The St. Louis Blues draft choice was one of the few Sea Dogs who had a really good night, scoring his sixth goal of the playoffs and second in three games during the second period. Granted, Gatineau goalie Maxime Clermont (25 saves) had a lot to do with any perception Saint John's forwards were struggling.The Olympiques' Jean-Gabriel Pageau was named the second star.
2:21 into the third period and the game still tied at 2-2, a cross ice feed found Eric Gelinas at the opposite side. With Clermont down, Gelinas had a wide open net but sailed it wide and hit a Gatineau player and bounced on net. Somehow, the puck didn’t cross the line.
The call on ice was no-goal and it would stand after a short review.
DEVOS HEATING UP
The QMJHL’s regular season scoring champion, Philip-Michael Devos, had a slow start to the series but has since heated up.
After failing to record a point in the first three contests, he scored twice in Game Four and recorded two assists in last night’s game. He now has nine goals and 18 assists in 23 playoffs games.
UNREAL CROWD
Easily the loudest we’ve ever heard Harbour Station for a Sea Dogs game. The place was jumping as the team hit the ice for warm-up and exploded during the intro. No word yet if Peter McGuire enjoyed the Sea Dogs’ entrance.
The Telegraph-Journal had an article on it all, an article that featured this great line:
The smell of salted tortilla chips and synthetic cheese that seems obligatory at any sporting event filled the concrete hallways and passed the lengthy line at Tim Hortons.FAN FEST
There was a Fan Fest held outside the building an hour before the doors opened and had a big crowd. Even some “Go Dogs Go” chants got going for a short time.
Here is the thrilling video from CHSJ News:
QUICK HITS
Philippe Halley led the Olympiques with five shots… Stanislav Galiev had a team high four shots for Saint John… Hubert Labrie, who was hurt in Game Four, had five hits for Gatineau… Alexnadre Beauregard was in beast mode and had seven hits en route to being named News 88.9 Top Dog… last year’s final went to six games as well… Scott McCain’s father, Wallace, passed away last night… there were a few former Sea Dogs in the house… it was the second sell-out of the playoffs at Harbour Station… Christian Ouellet appeared to hurt his knee in the first period but stayed in the game and showed no signs of discomfort. He scored a goal as well… the Sea Dogs welcomed their one-millionth fan… the 50/50 winner took home $17,162… for pictures of the game, check out Marc Henwood’s album… to relive the game, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
HIGHLIGHTS
Courtesy of RDS:
Reaction en francais:
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs flew to Gatineau this afternoon and will face the Olympiques in Game Six of the league final tomorrow night at 8:00 pm.
Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, QMJHL, Marc Henwood/Station
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