RECAP: Shootout City. Dogs Lose 3-2.

FINAL: Charlottetown 3, Saint John 2 (SO)

SAINT JOHN – It took a nine round shootout to decide a winner on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station.

Troy Vance, the 18^th shooter of the afternoon, managed to beat Sebastien Auger to give the Charlottetown Islanders a 3-2 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The weird thing about this lengthy shootout is that other goals were scored. Matthew Highmore scored in fifth round but was matched by a goal from Matej Beran. Noah Zilbert scored in the eighth round but he was matched by Anthony Cortese. Finally, after Marcus Cuomo was stopped, Vance ended it.

It was a fitting end to another very close and hard fought game involving the Sea Dogs. Saint John is now 2-1-0-1 on the season after picking up three points this weekend.

Charlottetown meanwhile is a perfect 4-0-0-0 on the year. They’ll look to stay perfect when these two teams meet again on the Island this coming Friday.

In Sunday’s game, Cuomo and Nathan Noel scored for Saint John. Auger was solid in net again, making 38 saves plus an additional six in the shootout.

The Islanders had goals from Daniel Sprong and Yan Pavel Laplante. Brassard was also very good in net, making 34 saves in his first start of the season.

FIRST PERIOD

Sebastien Auger had to be Sebastien Auger early on in this game as the Islanders got a couple of good shots on net.

At 2:06, Lukas Walter and Jack Nevins dropped the gloves. Walter landed a bomb to start the fight and that would be the best contact made during the quick tilt.

Saint John headed to the power play at 7:59. Then at 9:22, Stephen Anderson found Marcus Cuomo who made a nice move at the top of the crease to beat Eric Brassard and make it 1-0 Sea Dogs.

The Islanders headed to a power play of their own at 10:25 as Michael Abbott was called for boarding. Rookie Daniel Sprong would tie things up with his first goal at 12:12, firing a shot from the faceoff dot past a somewhat screened Auger.

Not a whole lot happened after that. Ryan Graves received a holding penalty at 19:32 after he took down Nathan Noel, giving the Dogs a man advantage to start the second.

Shots were 14-12 Charlottetown in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

The Sea Dogs couldn’t get anything going on the power play that carried over into the second.

Saint John headed to the man advantage at 4:47 as Zach Beaton headed off. Early on, Will Thompson showed off some skill as he went around an Islander and got a good shot off but was denied by Brassard. Out of the penalty box, Beaton was sprung on a breakaway but hit the post.

@station_nation hit Augers shaft, then post. Hope they recorded that as a save!!
— Brad MacPhee (@Brad_MacPhee) September 22, 2013

Charlottetown headed to the man advantage at the 10-minute mark after Samuel Dove-McFalls was called for goaltender interference. Auger made a couple of great saves to keep the score tied.

Noah Zilbert took a slashing penalty 15:12 but Charlottetown would not score on the power play.

Not a lot of solid scoring chances in the second. Shots were 13-6 Islanders.

THIRD PERIOD

Graves headed to the box at 3:31 and Kevin Laliberte joined him at 4:35 to give Saint John a lengthy five-on-three power play opportunity. But the Dogs could not produce on their golden opportunity so the game remained tied.

Soon after the power play, Bradley Kennedy had a great chance in front but was stopped by Auger.

Charlottetown took a 2-1 lead at 11:50. The puck came into the crease and Laplante grabbed it. He went around Auger and used his backhand to put the puck in and give the Isles their first lead of the game.

But the lead was short lived. Nathan Noel redirected a Jeremy Doucet point shot at 12:42 to tie things up at 2-2.

Smallman had a great chance in the slot late in the third but was stopped by Brassard.

Shots in the third were 11-9 Saint John.

OVERTIME

The Sea Dogs were awarded a power play at 1:36 after Brassard played the puck in illegal territory behind the net. Saint John had some good pressure applied and a few shots but could not connect.

Shots were 7-4 Sea Dogs in the extra frame.

SHOOTOUT

Crazy stuff. Troy Vance netted the winner. Game.

NOTES: See the blog tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to PEI to battle the Islanders on Friday night.