SAINT JOHN – A rookie filled lineup managed to stack up
fairly well against the Moncton Wildcats on Thursday night at Harbour Station.
The Wildcats defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 3-1 in the
opening game of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season. The Sea Dogs were
missing 10 players who are currently attending National Hockey League rookie camps. The
Wildcats were missing just three.
Saint John’s lineup was filled with rookies and a few
veterans. Despite being the underdog, the inexperienced squad stood their
ground and kept pace with the Wildcats all night long. They had plenty of
scoring opportunities – they outshot Moncton 34-26 – but lacked the scoring
touch that was needed.
The Sea Dogs’ only goal came from 20-year old Alexandre
Beauregard and was assisted by another overager in Danick Gauthier. Steven
Anderson received the other assist.
Alex Saulnier scored twice for Moncton and Devon
MacAusland added a single marker. Rookie import netminder Roman Will played well
in net, making 33 saves to earn his first career QMJHL win.
Charlie Millen made his Sea Dogs regular season debut and
played quite well as well. He allowed three goals on 26 shots.
Saint John got into some penalty trouble in the first
period. On a man advantage at 7:03, James Melindy fed Alex Saulnier at the side
of net and had a wide open cage to make it 1-0 Moncton.
At 8:05 of the second period, Saulnier netted his second
of the game as he threw the puck on goal and sailed in on a bit of a bizarre sequence
to put the ‘Cats up a pair.
Saint John finally got on the board at 15:35. Gauthier
was along the boards and centered the disc to Beauregard who was all alone in
front. The hero of Game Six of the President’s Cup Final simply slid the puck
five-hole past Will to make it a one-goal affair.
Near the midway point of the third period, Oliver
Cooper was sprung on a breakaway and tried a deke but was denied by Will.
The Wildcats put it away at the 10-minute mark as
MacAusland put the puck past a sliding Millen to give the visitors a 3-1 edge.
Moncton got into some penalty trouble late in the final
frame but the Sea Dogs couldn’t capitalize. Saint John would pull their
goaltender with two minutes remaining but could not get anything going.
The Sea Dogs went 0-for-6 on the power play while Moncton
went 1-for-3.
Saint John will have a chance to rebound Friday night
when they travel to Bathurst to face the Titan.
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation
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