HALIFAX – The Saint John Sea Dogs’ winning streak over
the Halifax Mooseheads has come to an end.
The Mooseheads defeated the Sea Dogs 3-2 on Sunday
afternoon at the Halifax Metro Centre in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
action, ending Saint John’s 15-game winning streak over the Herd.
Matthew Boudreau scored twice for Halifax while Martin
Frk added a solo marker. Darcy Ashley chipped in with two assists. Zachary
Fucale made 24 saves in the win.
Saint John had goals from Tomas Jurco and Danick
Gauthier. Sebastien Auger took the loss in goal, allowing three goals on 19
shots.
The Sea Dogs were very undisciplined in this one, giving
the Mooseheads seven power play opportunities. Halifax would score two of their
goals on the man advantage. Saint John played well in the first period despite
being down 1-0 but a penalty filled middle frame really seemed to slow them
down. The Dogs turned it on again in the third but just couldn’t tie things up.
It was a chippy affair with plenty of rough stuff and a
couple of fights. It also featured a controversial ending that saw Sea Dogs
head coach Gerard Gallant get tossed from the game.
Overall, both teams played decent considering the players
they were missing due to injuries and world junior camps. It will be
interesting to see how these two teams stack up in the second half with full
lineups.
The Sea Dogs had some pressure on early and headed to the
power play at 4:25. One of the Sea Dogs’ better chances came on the power play
with Grant West in front but he was unable to tip the puck past Mooseheads
goaltender Zachary Fucale.
The Dogs headed back to the man advantage at 8:38 but
were unable to create many good scoring chances.
In the second half of the period, the Moose had still not
registeted a shot on goal. They managed to hit iron once, and the play went
under review, but it was ruled no goal. Finally with just 4:30 remaining in the
first, Halifax recorded their first shot on net.
At 16:31, the Mooseheads got their second shot on net and
it was a goal. Saint John netminder Sebastien Auger went behind the goal to
play the disc. He turned it over to Matthew Boudreau who simply walked out and
slid the puck in to make it 1-0.
Shots were 8-3 Sea Dogs in the the first.
SECOND PERIOD
The period started on a scary note as Devon Oliver-Dares
and Luca Ciampini dropped the gloves. Oliver-Dares got the last shot in but fell
to the ice hard, hitting his head. He left the game and did not return.
Penalties were the story of the period as the teams got
involved in plenty of rough stuff.
With Tomas Jurco in the box at 5:57, Boudreau accepted a
cross ice feed and beat a stretched out Auger upstairs to make it 2-0 Halifax.
At 8:56, Ian Saab and Gabriel Desjardins dropped the
gloves. Just prior to the scrap, Grant West was involved in a scrum and picked
up a penalty. The Moose couldn’t connect on the power play, though.
A little later on, Denis Creighton had great chance in
the slot but failed to get a shot off.
The Sea Dogs took a too many men on the ice penalty at 14:45.
While shorthanded, Danick Gauthier had a breakaway. He was stopped originally
but got another shot off that rolled along the goal line. With Fucale down and out,
Gauthier went behind the net and got the puck at the side but hit the post. A
very unfortunate turn of events for the Dogs.
Saint John finally found the score sheet at 18:15.
Stephen Anderson was along the goal line and tried to center the puck. It hit a
Moosehead skate and went into the pads of Fucale, allowing Jurco to push it in
and make it a 2-1 contest.
Halifax headed back to the power play at 18:27 as West
headed off again. They had a great chance late in the frame but Auger shut the
door.
Halifax had wide shots on goal lead at one point in the
period but the Dogs came back. Shots were 11 apiece.
THIRD PERIOD
Desjardins had a couple of good chances early in the
frame but couldn’t score.
The Sea Dogs had some decent pressure in the first half
of the third. Their best chance came when Jason Seed hit iron, nearly tying the
game and giving him his first goal as a Sea Dog.
Saint John continued to get some good pressure on as the
period continued. But at 14:52, that came to an end when Gauthier headed off
for cross-checking. On the power play at 15:36, Martin Frk scored his first
goal of the season to give the Moose a 3-1 lead.
Then at 16:19, the Sea Dogs headed to the man advantage
and pulled Auger with plenty of time left. They had lots of pressure on but
just couldn’t score.
Finally, at 19:04 with the extra attacker on, a Roussel point
shot was put in by Gauthier to make it a one-goal affair once again.
In the dying seconds, Anderson had a chance at the side
of the net but couldn’t jam it past Fucale. With less than a second left, it looked as though a
faceoff should have been in the Halifax zone but was taken out to neutral zone. Gerard Gallant on the Saint John bench lost his mind and was
tossed from the game.
Shots were 7-5 Saint John in the third period.
Saint John was 0-for-4 on the power play while Halifax
went 2-for-7.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Cape Breton to take on
the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Friday at 7pm.
love the Corbeil signs!
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