The Sea Dogs opened the 2018-19 season with a back-and-forth, hard fought 5-4 overtime loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night at Harbour Station. Sure, the Mooseheads were missing several regulars, but this young Sea Dogs team showed that they'll be able to give some teams a good run.
Saint John looked a bit unorganized and nervous in the first period and trailed 2-0. But the Sea Dogs turned things around at intermission and the remainder of the game was fairly evenly played. The point was well deserved.
The Sea Dogs' youth had a good night with Josh Lawrence putting up a goal and an assist; Brady Burns recording a goal; and Jeremy Poirier looking like a veteran on the blue line. Returnees William Poirier and Robbie Burt scored Saint John's other goals. Alex D'Orio made 31 saves in the loss.
Arnaud Durandeau scored twice for Halifax while singles came from Gavin Hart, Justin Barron and Patrick Kyte. Alexis Gravel made 34 saves in the win.
The Mooseheads opened the scoring at 3:15 of the first when Durandeau came down the wing and fired a hard wrist shot past D'Orio.
After Saint John failed to convert on their only power play chance of the period, Curtis Heffernan threw the puck on net and produced a rebound. Hart was in front and beat D'Orio, giving the Moose a quick 2-0 advantage.
Saint John was buzzing in the first half of the second period, pinning the Mooseheads in their own end and creating several good chances. After some sustained pressure, Saint John was awarded a power play at 4:22 after Jeremy Poirier was tripped crossing the blue line.
While the Sea Dogs weren't rewarded on their power play chance, they finally got on the board at 11:50. Burt was sprung on a breakaway from the blue line and beat Gravel with a nice move to his backhand, making it a 2-1 game.
Halifax picked up their play in the second half of the middle frame, but it was still a solid, confidence boosting period for the Dogs. Shots in the second ended 11-9 in favour of Saint John.
Burns tied the game with his first career QMJHL goal at 2:22 of the third. The 16-year-old forward kept the puck on a two-on-one with Kevin Mason and beat Gravel over the shoulder, making it a 2-2 game.
Durandeau's second of the game put Halifax back in front at 9:33. A shot from the side boards went off William Villeneuve's skate and under D'Orio, giving the Moose a 3-2 advantage.
Lawrence's first career QMJHL goal tied the game at 3-3 at 17:05. Gravel allowed a big rebound and Lawrence was in perfect position to get a couple bats of the puck on net - with his second going up and over the down Moose netminder.
With 1:35 remaining in the third, Barron fired a point shot past D'Orio, putting Halifax back in front once again. The with 28 seconds remaining and D'Orio on the bench, William Poirier was at the side of the net and one timed the puck past Gravel, tying the game yet again and sending it to overtime.
At 1:55 of overtime, Kyte banked the puck off D'Orio's back and in, giving the Mooseheads a 5-4 victory.
LINEUP
The Sea Dogs were without forwards Christian Clark (injured), James White (healthy) and Yohan Plamondon (healthy); defenceman Brendan Sibley (lower body); and goaltender Stewart Bagnell (healthy).
NOTES: In a pre-game ceremony, the Sea Dogs named Anthony Boucher team captain. Michael Campoli, Nathan Larose and William Poirier all wore an 'A''... the Alpine Ice Bar has been rebranded the Moosehead Light Ice Bar... there is now a Fleaburn kids area on the concourse and the season ticket entrance has been revamped... overage forward Samuel Asselin, acquired earlier in the day by the Mooseheads, made his debut with Halifax... Arnaud Durandeau had two goals in this game. He recorded four against Saint John last year - the most he scored against any team... along with Burns and Lawrence netting their first career goals, Michael Campoli, Filip Prikryl and Maxim Cajkovic recorded their first QMJHL assists.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday at 2 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment