FINAL: Rocket 3, Sea Dogs 5
SAINT JOHN – Finally, the Saint John Sea Dogs are in the
win column.
Led by Danick Gauthier’s hat trick, the Sea Dogs topped
the Prince Edward Island Rocket 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station in
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action to earn their first win of the 2011-12 campaign. The win gives Saint John a 1-3-0-0
record while the Rocket fall to 1-2-0-1.
Along with Gauthier’s three goals, Brock Morrison and
Scott Oke also scored. Goaltender Sebastien Auger played very well in net,
making 40 saves to earn the first win of his QMJHL career.
PEI had goals from Matej Beran, Felipe Corbo and Victor
Provencher. Netminder Maxime Lagace made made 33 saves in the loss.
Saint John’s lineup was bolstered by the return of
forwards Alexandre Beauregard, Gauthier, and Oke who had been taking part in
National Hockey League rookie camps as free agent invitees. The three certainly
helped the young Sea Dogs team as they combined to put up four goals and two
assists.
Because and injuries and other commitments, the Sea Dogs
were only able to dress 11 forwards and five defensemen.
Despite being short staffed, Saint John was able to put
forth a strong performance. They had allowed eight goals in both of their previous two
games entering Sunday’s contest.
The Sea Dogs will look for the momentum gained from this
game to carry over into next weekend’s matches at Harbour Station as they begin the climb to the .500 mark.
Alexandre Beauregard and Olivier Croteau dropped the
gloves for a quick scrap at 1:35 of the opening frame. Beauregard picked up an
elbowing penalty just before the fight, putting the Rocket on the man
advantage.
The Rocket’s best power play chance came during a
scramble at the side of the goal but Sea Dogs goaltender Sebastien Auger held
his post and kept the puck out.
Saint John took a 1-0 lead at 4:13. The Sea Dogs broke in
on a three-on-one with Colin Campbell holding the puck. He made a great
cross-ice feed to Brock Morrison who tipped the puck past Rocket netminder
Maxime Lagace to give the Dogs an early lead.
PEI went back to the power play at 5:17. While
shorthanded, Danick Gauthier had a good chance but lost the puck just above the
crease.
Back at even strength, Gauthier leveled Tomas Pavelka in
the corner. Not long after, Croteau had a solid chance as he cut through the
crease but was denied by a sliding Auger.
The Rocket went to yet another man advantage at 13:41. Gauthier
had another shorthanded chance but drew a hooking penalty on this one, forcing
some four-on-four action.
A little later on, the puck was loose above the crease.
Devon Oliver-Dares dove to try and bat it in but couldn’t get the puck on net.
Matej Beran picked up an interference penalty and
Beauregard a roughing infraction at 19:35, creating some four-on-four action to
start off the second period.
Shots were 17-14 PEI in the first frame. Auger was solid.
SECOND PERIOD
The Rocket tied the game at 2:06 of the second period.
Matej Beran let a high wrist shot go that beat Auger high glove side to tie
things up.
Just after the goal, Auger made some huge pad stop on
Felipe Corbo. Play then headed down ice and then back again as Ben Duffy
carried it in. He sent the puck through the crease to Corbo who had an open
cage to make it 2-1 PEI.
Then the penalties started. Saint John went to a 5-on-3
power play at 3:55. Their best chance came when Kevin Gagne wired a shot off
the post.
The Sea Dogs went back to power play at 6:27. Then at
7:19, they had another two-man advantage. Scott Oke nearly tied the game with a
wraparound attempt but couldn’t get the puck on net. Then at 8:07, Oke fed
Danick Gauthier at the side of the net who connected to make it a 2-2 affair.
Shortly after the goal, Beauregard and Matthew Hobbs had
a big time collision at the blue line. As the collision happened, Gauthier went
alone and was denied by the pad of Lagace.
Oliver-Dares and Marc-Andre Levesque dropped the gloves
at 11:01 in a spirited scrap. Saint John got a power play out of those events,
a man advantage that saw Aidan Kelly ring the puck off the post.
Back at even strength, a scramble in the Sea Dogs crease was
nicely covered by Auger. The Rocket went to the power play at 14:01. They had
some good pressure on but couldn’t score.
At 19:01, Gauthier came down the wing and cut in towards
the goal, roofing the puck over Lagace to make it 3-2 Saint John after two.
Aidan Kelly took a late penalty to put the Sea Dogs down
a man to start the third period.
Shots in the second were 15-13 in favour of the visitors.
THIRD PERIOD
Croteau had a good chance early on as the puck was centered to him but Auger made the stop.
At 8:23, Kelly Bent and Cooper dropped the gloves for the
third fight of the game. That resulted in some four-on-four action with
Beauregard and Deverick Ottereyes picking up roughing penalties on the same
sequence.
At 8:43, Gauthier made a long pass down low to Oke who
tapped the puck past Lagace to give the Sea Dogs a two-goal advantage.
Saint John kept the pressure on following the goal. Jason
Cameron was in front and deflected the puck off something and went wide. Then,
Morrison tried to the jam the puck in but couldn’t.
The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 12:09. On the man
advantage, McKenzie Brown went in alone but had the puck taken off his stick.
Then, Oke was in good shooting position but fired high.
The fourth fight of the game took place at 13:48 as Oke
and Dylan Capstick fought along the boards in the corner. Capstick also picked
up a checking from behind penalty on the play. But Spencer MacDonald headed to
the box at 14:54 to create some more four-on-four action.
A few moments after the penalty call, Duffy nailed the
crossbar. The play went under review and it would be ruled a no-goal.
PEI got within one at 17:43. Pier-Antoine Dion was along
the side boards and centered the disc to Victor Provencher who made a little
dangle and then snipped one past Auger.
In the final minute, the Rocket had a scramble in the Sea
Dogs crease but could not score. Gauthier iced the game at 19:42 by scoring his
hat trick goal into the empty net and make it a 5-3 final.
Shots were 11 apiece in the third.
PEI went 0-for-6 on the power play while Saint John went
1-for-8.
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
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