Thursday, January 21, 2016

RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 5-4 (OT)

FINAL: Saint John 4, Charlottetown 5 (OT)
CHARLOTTETOWN – A former Sea Dog ended Saint John’s winning streak at seven-games on Thursday night at Eastlink Centre.

With 58.2 seconds remaining in overtime, Will Thompson scored to give the Charlottetown Islanders a 5-4 victory over the Sea Dogs. Despite the loss, the Sea Dogs did overcome 3-0 and 4-1 deficits to force extra time, which is something. And while Saint John’s seven-game winning streak came to end, the club has still picked up points in 10 straight games.

Samuel Blais had a pair of goals for the Islanders while Filip Chlapik and Bradley Kennedy also scored. Mason McDonald was kept busy, making 45 saves in the loss.

Matthew Highmore had a pair of goals for Saint John – including the game tying goal early in the third. Nathan Noel and Sam Povorozniouk also scored. Marc-Antoine Turcotte was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots in the first period. Alex Bishop was solid in relief, making 16 stops.

A Chlapik point shot on a power play, which sailed past a screened Turcotte, opened the scoring at 5:49. Then at 10:08, Blais made it 2-0 Charlottetown. Three minutes later, Blais scored again, this time on a power play, to give the Isles a 3-0 advantage and end Turcotte’s night.

The first period wasn’t all bad for Saint John. At 17:21 during a man advantage, Noel beat McDonald to make it 3-1 heading into the first intermission.

Despite Saint John dominating the first half of the second period, Charlottetown made it a 4-1 game at 13:28 when, following a faceoff, a shot from Kennedy hit Bishop in the arm and went in.

But the Sea Dogs would charge back. At 14:14, Povorozniouk wired a hard shot past McDonald to make it a two-goal game once again. 48 seconds later, Highmore beat McDonald with a wrist shot to make it a 4-3 contest.

Just 4:17 into the third period, a Matt Murphy shot was redirected by Highmore to even things up at 4-4. Despite some offensive pressure applied by Saint John late in the third period, the game would need extra time.

After some terrific back-and-forth rushes, Daniel Sprong fed Thompson at the top of the circle who then beat Bishop five-hole to give Charlottetown the victory.

NOTES
  • The Sea Dogs were without Oliver Felixson (upper body), Bailey Webster (upper body), Adam Marsh (upper body), Bokondji Imama (suspension – game 12/15) and Matt Paul (healthy).
  • Samuel Dove-McFalls returned to the Saint John lineup after missing the past 33 games because of knee surgery. Dove-McFalls played in just five games with the Sea Dogs before being shut down in mid-October. The centre started on the team’s third line with Kyle Ward and Joe Veleno and finished the night with six shots, two hits and 5/11 on faceoffs.
  • With Dove-McFalls' return, Alex Lafreniere was sent back to the Saint John Vito’s.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Oliver Cooper, who has had a fairly solid season series against his old club this year, was not in the Islanders lineup.
  • As Tim Roszell noted during the 96.1 NewSong FM broadcast, this was the fourth straight game that Charlottetown has chased the opposing team’s starting goaltender.
  • Nathan Noel extended his goal-scoring streak to six games and his point streak to 10 with a goal in the first period.
  • Sam Povorozniouk now has goals in five straight games.
  • Saint John has at least one power play goal in four straight games.
  • This was Charlottetown’s first win of the season against Saint John in six tries. They meet three more times.

TURNING POINT
Second period goals scored 48 seconds apart by Saint John really got the Sea Dogs back into this game, quickly making it 4-3. Although the Dogs couldn't pull off a win, they did get a point.

SN PLAYERS OF THE GAME
1. Matthew Highmore
2. Sam Povorozniouk
3. Charlottetown’s third jerseys

TWEET OF THE GAME
You don’t see this too often.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at Harbour Station.

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