RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 5-2

FINAL: Sherbrooke 2, Saint John 5

SAINT JOHN – Mathieu Joseph put on quite a show on Friday night at Harbour Station.

The 17-year old forward registered two goals and three assists to lift the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-2 victory over the Sherbrooke Phoenix.

Joseph wasn’t the only Sea Dog to shine on this night. Samuel Dove-McFalls recorded a goal and three assists while Adam Bateman had a goal and two assists. Justice Dundas scored Saint John’s other goal.

Sebastien Auger fought the puck big time in this game, bobbling it and misjudging shots on several occasions. He was good enough to earn the win though, making 30 saves in the victory.

Sherbrooke goals came from Chase Harwell and Raphael Lafontaine. Evan Fitzpatrick made 28 saves in the loss.

Dundas headed off for boarding at 7:37. While shorthanded, Dove-McFalls carried the puck into the zone, cut towards the crease and sent a pass over to a streaking Joseph. The Dogs forward made no mistake and made it 1-0 Saint John at 8:08.

With Dundas still in the box, the Phoenix tied the game at 9:31. Auger thought he was about the smother the puck with his glove but Harwell poked it in, making it a 1-1 contest.

Bokondji Imama and Mikael Sabourin dropped the gloves at 13:04. Imama ended up getting a five-minute penalty and game misconduct for cross checking, which would eventually send Sherbrooke to a three-minute power play. The Phoenix had some good pressure on the man advantage but could not connect. Shots in the first – thanks to the power play time - were 9-8 in favour of the visitors.

After a couple of good chances early in the second period, Sherbrooke took a 2-1 lead at 9:37. A point shot was blocked in the slot, allowing Lafontaine to spin and shoot a wrist shot past Auger.

The Sea Dogs were awarded their first power play of the game at 16:00. On that man advantage, Dundas tipped a Bateman point shot past Fitzpatrick to tie things up at 2-2.

Saint John went to another power play at 17:55. The Dogs couldn’t produce much while a man up, but with 2.6 seconds left on the clock, Bateman slowly skated to the bottom of the circle and picked the corner of Fitzpatrick’s net to give the home side a 3-2 lead after two. Shots were 16-10 in favour of Saint John in the frame.

On a power play at 4:35 of the third period, Dove-McFalls fed Joseph who was parked at the faceoff dot. Joseph one-timed the puck past Fitzpatrick to give the Dogs a 4-2 advantage.

With 4:26 left in the third, Nathan Noel managed to put the puck in while crashing the crease area. The goal ended up not counting and Noel was given a goaltender interference penalty, giving the Phoenix a late power play opportunity. Sherbrooke had some pressure applied but couldn’t generate many quality scoring chances.

Dove-McFalls hit Sherbrooke’s empty net with 20 seconds remaining to give the Dogs a 5-2 victory. Shots were 13-9 in favour of Sherbrooke in the period and 33-32 Saint John overall.

TURNING POINT/BIG MOMENT

Adam Bateman’s goal late in the second period was a momentum changer, giving the Sea Dogs a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

SN PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Mathieu Joseph, Samuel Dove-McFalls and Adam Bateman were obviously terrific, but so was Justice Dundas. He finished with just one goal but played with lots of energy and created a few chances.

STATS

NOTES

• The Sea Dogs were without forwards Mark Tremaine (upper body) and Matthew Green (healthy) along with defensemen Jakub Zboril (lower body) and Jack vanBoekel (mono).
• Mark Tremaine took the pre-game warm up and appears to be close to returning. He has not played since Jan. 17 in Gatineau.
• The highly touted Jeremy Roy served the first game of a two-game suspension for a checking to the head game misconduct earned on Thursday in Halifax. The Phoenix were also without winger David Storto who has 37 points in 45 games this season.
• This was the second game of a three-in-three for the Phoenix. Sherbrooke played Thursday in Halifax, tonight in Saint John and travels to Moncton tomorrow.
• With an assist on Mathieu Joseph’s first period goal, Samuel Dove-McFalls now leads the league in shorthanded assists with four.
• Nathan Noel and Adam Marsh are pointless in their past three games.
• Someone won a trip to see Taylor Swift in Boston during the first intermission. OMG.

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Harbour Station.