Sunday, June 26, 2022

Takeaways from Saint John's 5-3 win

Vincent Ethier/CHL
SAINT JOHN - There have been some great Saint John Sea Dogs games played at TD Station over the years.

Stanislav Galiev's overtime winner against Chicoutimi in 2012. Nathan Beaulieu and Tomas Jurco both scoring less than 90 seconds into Game 1 of the 2012 final. Game 7 against Cape Breton in 2016. Even just a few days ago when the Sea Dogs dropped an overtime thriller to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

But all those were topped on Saturday night with Saint John's 5-3 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes. The building erupted for William Dufour's heroic four-goal performance and again when the horn sounded to end game, sending the Sea Dogs into Wednesday's championship game.

Veteran defenseman Jeremie Poirier has played a lot of games at TD Station. He said he'd never heard a crowd like that.

"It's been really good," said Poirier after the game. "A huge thank you to Saint John fans. They've been great, they've been loud. It helped us a lot tonight. Really grateful for those fans."
Poirier scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on a power play at 14:12 of the second period, a period that saw the Sea Dogs score four times and outshoot the Cataractes 21-5. The win pushes the Sea Dogs directly into Wednesday's championship game.

Poirier's goal was huge, but most of the post-game talk was around Dufour's four-goal night. While there have been some incredible individual performances by Sea Dogs players over the years, Dufour's might top them all. With a bye to the Memorial Cup final on the line, Dufour netted a natural hat trick in the second period to help the Sea Dogs overcome a 3-0 deficit. He added an insurance goal in the third.

"We were down three in the first period and in the room we just said come back to our basics," said Dufour. "Put some pucks on the net, forecheck hard. We took a penalty at the end of the first. Just kill it and go forward after that. And that's what we did. It went pretty well."

Dufour nearly scored his first goal on a breakaway just a minute into the second. But his backhand attempt was stopped by Shawinigan goaltender Antoine Coulombe.

"After the first period we just talked to ourselves in the locker room. After killing the penalty, the breakaway, I said no, I won't miss more chances like that. I can't. I buried one right after, almost on the penalty kill, and then right after on a faceoff. It was just amazing with the crowd and everything it was just, wow."
Head coach Gardiner MacDougall noted the all-round impact Dufour is having, scoring goals, killing penalties and blocking shots.

"It's pretty special wasn't it," MacDougall said of Dufour's performance. 

"You go with your horses and he's a big horse. A magic second period for him. That was outstanding. When your top guys buy in - look at shot blocks or penalty kills - he's grown as a player and he's grown as a teammate because he's becoming a real leader for our team. We had a lot of top players tonight, but when your lead horse is in the front of the group, everyone is following. It was special to see that's for sure and I'm sure his mom will be very, very proud tonight."

THE TURN
Junior hockey is great because of the momentum swings. There was a massive swing from the first to the second with Saint John erasing a 3-0 deficit and leading 4-3 after two.

"Anytime you're down in a game like that, you have to give a lot of credit to our players," said MacDougall. "Full house here. Big moment. And all of a sudden you're down by three. To have the response we did... it's life altering for these players for this opportunity. Full credit to their efforts and their grit and finding a way."

When Dufour, who finished the game with 15 (!) shots, started scoring and the crowd got going, it helped the team get momentum on their side, said Lawrence.

"Once we got some momentum the fans really helped us keep it. We kept rolling, the big man kept shooting and we kept scoring."

Lawrence had two assists in the game - one on the game-tying goal and one on the winner.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Saint John had a much better game on special teams. The penalty kill, which had really struggled in the tournament, went a perfect 4/4.

"I think we just executed a little better. The forecheck was good on the PK," said Lawrence, adding that Nikolas Hurtubise had a strong performance in net.

Saint John kept Xavier Bourgault and Mavrik Bourque from scoring goals. Each had one assist.

The power play has had its struggles as well but finally converted when Jeremie Poirier connected. The Sea Dogs finished 1/6 on the night.

"I think we had a couple chances the game prior but the puck wouldn't go in," said the defenseman.

Poirier said the team spent a lot time working on the power play in practice.

"It paid off tonight with a big game-winning goal on the power play. That's huge for our team."

FOUR GOALS
GARDINER
A viral moment from Gardiner MacDougall after the game.
POST-GAME UP NEXT
The Sea Dogs will play in the championship game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. They'll play the winner of Monday's semifinal between Shawinigan and the Hamilton Bulldogs.
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