 |
| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
Ivan Ivan netted the shootout winner to give the Eagles the extra point. Former Sea Dogs Dawson Stairs (one goal, two assists and a shootout goals) and Nicholas Girouard (one goal and one assist) both had strong performances against their old club.
Connor Trenholm and Jeremy Langlois also scored for the Eagles. Rookie netminder Remi Delafontaine made 44 saves in the victory.
The Sea Dogs got off to a rough start once again and spent most of the night playing from behind. Penalties proved to be a problem with Saint John playing shorthanded on seven occasions. Cape Breton did not give Saint John any power plays.
William Dufour scored a pair of goals for Saint John while Carter McCluskey and Cam MacDonald added singles. Jonathan Lemieux was pulled late in the first period after allowing three goals on 12 shots. Noah Patenaude allowed a goal on 24 shots in relief.
It was a wild first period that started off with Lemieux stopping Girouard on a penalty shot attempt.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead at 11:12. Girouard fought off a Saint John defender in the corner and fed a wide open Trenholm who scored on an open net.
Cape Breton doubled their lead on a power play at 12:40 when Stairs scored. The Eagles then made it 3-0 with another power play goal, this time on a Girouard redirect, at 17:06.
Saint John got on the board at 17:58. Brady Burns had the puck at the goal line and fed Dufour who beat Delafontaine to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.
The Sea Dogs got off to quick start in the second period with Dufour scoring just 24 seconds in, making it a 3-2 game.
Langlois put the Eagles back up by two at 11:10, firing a hard wrist shot top corner and past Patenaude.
Saint John got back within one at 2:58 of the third when McCluskey netted his second of the season, firing the puck over the pad of Delafontaine.
Saint John killed off two Cape Breton power plays after McCluskey's goal and were rewarded for their efforts at 14:43. On a two-on-one, Peter Reynolds fed MacDonald who had an open cage to even things up at 4-4.
After a scoreless overtime, Ivan broke a 1-1 tie in the shootout to give the Eagles the victory.
LINEUP
Burns - Lawrence - Dufour
MacDonald - Reynolds - Sapelnikov
Picard - Savoie - Bezeau
Foston - Bowness - McCluskey
Poirier - Despont
DesRoches - Villeneuve
Drapeau - Inniss
Lemieux
Patenaude
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Ryan Francis (Stockton Heat tryout), Gavin Watt and Nico Laforge along with defenseman Hunter Gartley.
OLD FRIENDS: Former Sea Dogs forwards Nicholas Girouard and Dawson Stairs played against their old club for the first time. The two were recognized on the video board during the first period.
I think I can speak for both Girouard and Stairs and say it’s good to be back!
— Cape Breton Eagles (@CBEHockey) October 15, 2021
🚨🚨
GOAL STREAK: Nicholas Girouard extended his goal streak to five games. He has scored six goals during the stretch.
LEMIEUX PULLED: Jonathan Lemieux made his sixth straight for Saint John but was pulled at 17:06 of the opening frame after allowing three goals on 12 shots. While the goals weren't really due to Lemieux's performance, the netminder seemed frustrated when exiting the game. It's the second time this season he's been pulled. Noah Patenaude allowed a goal on 24 shots in relief.
PENALTY KILL: Cape Breton cashed in twice on the power play in the first period and it looked as though that might sink the Sea Dogs. But Saint John came up with some huge kills late in the game, killing off three penalties in the third and another in overtime. Cape Breton finished the night 2/7 on the power play while Saint John was not awarded any.
LONG TIME: This was the first meeting between the Sea Dogs and Eagles since Nov. 18, 2020 and the first time Cape Breton had visited Saint John since Oct. 31, 2020. The two play each other on Saturday but then won't meet again until Dec. 28 - the first game back from the holiday break.
SMALL CROWD: The announced attendance was 2,197 - the smallest crowd in team history. The previous low was 2,266 against Val-d'Or on Oct. 31, 2015.
NOTES: There were a lot of cheers for Eagles rookie and Quispamsis native Kiefer Lyons when he hit the ice for warmup... Jonathan Lemieux was still wearing his Val-d'Or Foreurs gear but did sport his new setup during warmup... the Sea Dogs allowed the games's first goal for a fifth time in six games... the mask rule was heavily enforced at this game and a number of fans in the upper bowl were asked to leave the building for not following the guidelines... Saint John had 48 shots in the game with 20 of those coming in the third period... Brady Burns had seven shots.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.
No comments:
Post a Comment