Playoff Game Day: Game 4 at Val-d'Or

The Saint John Sea Dogs look to complete a sweep of their second round series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs tonight. Game 4 takes place this evening at 8:30 p.m. at Centre Air Creebec.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Series status: The Sea Dogs lead the best-of-seven President Cup quarterfinal playoff series 3-0.

Last game: The Sea Dogs defeated the Foreurs 7-3 in Game 3 last night in Val-d'Or. Mathieu Joseph had a hat trick for Saint John while singles came from Cole Reginato, Joe Veleno, Julien Gauthier and Kyle Ward. David Henley, Ivan Kozlov and David Noel scored for Val-d'Or. Callum Booth made 16 saves in the win. Etienne Montpetit made 52 stops in the loss.

2016-17 regular season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-0-0-0 against the Foreurs during the regular season while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Foreurs: Defenceman Jason Bell and goaltender Alex Bishop.

Random stat: Saint John is now averaging a league high 4.88 goals per game and 47.59 shots per game through seven playoff games.

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 7-3

FINAL: Saint John 7, Val-d'Or 3

Lorne Webster | SN Staff

VAL-D'OR, Que. – A three-goal performance by Mathieu Joseph led the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 7-3 win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs at Centre Air Creebec Tuesday evening.

With the victory, Saint John secured a 3-0 stranglehold in their quarter-final match-up and can move into the semi-finals with one more victory over the Foreurs.

Cole Reginato, Joe Veleno, Julien Gauthier and Kyle Ward added single goals for Saint John. Callum Booth recorded 16 saves in the win.

David Henley, Ivan Kozlov and David Noel replied for Val-d'Or. Etienne Montpetit had another impressive 52 save performance for the Foreurs.

NOTES

• Henley opened the scoring on a power play at 3:16 of the first period when his seemingly innocent point shot deflected off a Sea Dogs defender and past a screened Booth. Former Sea Dog Jason Bell earned an assist on the goal.
• Kozlov sent the home team supporters into a frenzy of horn blowing at 5:47 when he corralled a rebound in the slot and snapped the puck between Booth's toe and the post to put the Foreurs up two goals for the first time this series.
• Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn used his time out immediately after Kozlov's goal to settle his troops and it worked perfectly. Just 30 seconds later, Samuel Dove-McFalls' drop pass from behind the Foreurs' goal went to Reginato in the slot and the Sea Dogs winger snapped a one-timer past Montpetit to make the score 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
• Veleno evened the score while on a power play at 19:10 of the first, as he deftly tipped a cross crease pass from Simon Bourque past Montpetit.
• Joseph gave Saint John their first lead of the night at 7:08 of the second - after Bokondji Imama intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and sent a long lead pass to his linemate - on a breakaway and beat Montpetit with a slick deke to his backhand. In games one and two of this series, the Sea Dogs had been stoned by Montpetit on shots during about seven or eight breakaway opportunities.
• Val-d'Or's Noel tied the score at 9:28 when his point shot appeared to glance off another Sea Dogs defender in front of Booth.
• Despite being outshot 37-11 after two periods, the hosts had managed to find a way to go to the dressing room even at 3-3 on the scoreboard.
• The Sea Dogs moved back in front at 4:18 of the third when the rebound of a Bailey Webster point shot went to Gauthier in the slot and the former Foreurs sniper unloaded a quick snap shot past Montpetit.
• Joseph put the Sea Dogs up by two at 8:26 when he cut through the slot, faked (or fanned on) his initial attempt to freeze Montpetit and then snapped the disc past the Foreurs' 'keeper's blocker.
• Joseph completed his hat trick with an empty net goal at 18:45.
• Ward put a cherry on top with a one-timer from the slot after a nice drop pass from behind the goal line by Cedric Pare to make the final score 7-3 for the visitors.
• Gauthier established a Sea Dogs record for most shots on goal in regulation time of a playoff game on Saturday as he unleashed 13 shots against his former team in the game two victory.
• Henley's first period power play goal was the first man advantage goal against the Sea Dogs in this year's playoffs. Saint John also had scored three shorthanded goals in the team's first six playoff games.
• Kozlov, one of the Foreurs' two import players, returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday's game.
• Elsewhere in the QMJHL - a broken refrigeration line in Sydney, NS caused Game 3 of the Screaming Eagles - Charlottetown Islanders series to be postponed. In Bathurst, the Titan earned a 4-1 victory over Blainville-Boisbriand to jump into a 2-1 series lead. And in Chicoutimi, the second ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies came away with a 3-1 win over the Sagueneens - to take a 2-1 series lead there.

Pare, D'Orio make final NHL CSS rankings

Two members of the Saint John Sea Dogs cracked NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2017 Draft.

Sea Dogs forward Cedric Pare was ranked 146th amongst North American skaters - an improvement from his midterm rank (203rd). Meanwhile, Alex D'Orio was ranked 13th amongst North American goaltenders, a slide from his No. 8 position at the midterm.

Sea Dogs prospects Shane Bowers (16th), Ben Mirageas (63rd) and Morgan Barron (98th) were also listed.

Pare, a first-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft, had five goals and 11 assists in 54 regular season games during his first full campaign with Saint John. This post-season, the forward has one goal and one assist.

D'Orio, also a 2015 first-round pick of the Sea Dogs, went 19-4 during the regular season, recording a 2.40 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. He has not seen any action this post-season.

D'Orio was recently ranked 80th amongst all skaters and goaltenders available for the draft by Future Considerations.

According to the CHL website, only 29 QMJHL players made Central Scouting's final listing. Halifax's Nico Hischier was ranked second.

The 2017 NHL Draft takes place June 23-24 in Chicago.

Playoff Game Day: Game 3 at Val-d'Or

The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in their second round series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs tonight. Game 3 takes place this evening at 8:30 p.m. at the Air Creebec Centre.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Series status: The Sea Dogs lead the best-of-seven second round playoff series 2-0.

Last games: The Sea Dogs took Game 2 of the series on Saturday at Harbour Station, defeating the Foreurs 4-1. Cedric Pare, Julien Gauthier, Spencer Smallman and Mathieu Joseph all scored in the victory. Simon Lafrance had Val-d'Or's lone goal. Callum Booth made 17 saves in the win. Etienne Montpetit was the story again, making 49 saves in the loss.

2016-17 regular season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-0-0-0 against the Foreurs during the regular season while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Foreurs: Defenceman Jason Bell and goaltender Alex Bishop.

Random stat: 12 of Saint John's 28 goals this post-season have come in third periods. They are outscoring opponents 12-1 in those stanzas.

Notes: Sea Dogs' penalty kill has been perfect

While Saint John's less-than-hot power play has been a talking point this post-season, it's worth mentioning just how good their penalty kill has been.

Through six games, the Sea Dogs have not allowed a man advantage goal on 23 opportunities. That's quite impressive, even if Saint John hasn't faced the most offensively gifted teams so far in these playoffs.

The Sea Dogs have given up 10 goals in six games - the same amount as Charlottetown and Blainville-Boisbriand. The Islanders have allowed two power play goals on 29 chances (93.1% PK) while the Armada have given up three on 17 (82.4% PK).

Saint John had the league's best penalty kill during the regular season, so all of this isn't overly surprising. Still, running at 100% through six games is pretty good.

Game 3 of Saint John's second round series takes place on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. in Val-d'Or.

Some notes...

• The Government of New Brunswick very quietly proposed changes to its regulations for amateur athletes last week. The CHLPA folks were not happy, as CBC reports.
• The Dallas Stars are looking for a new head coach - could that coach be Gerard Gallant?
• On that note, Sportsnet's Doug MacLean is still upset over the Florida Panthers letting Gallant go earlier this season. MacLean brought the subject up again on Sportsnet this weekend. Gallant's replacement, Tom Rowe, will not be back as head coach next season.
• International Scouting Services has ranked Sea Dogs prospect Shane Bowers 23rd for this year's NHL Draft. The Boston University commit now has 22 goals and 51 points in 60 games with the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks this year.
• Meanwhile, Bowers was ranked 31st by Future Considerations. Interestingly, Sea Dogs goaltender Alex D'Orio was ranked 80th.

Alumdate: Former Sea Dogs qualify for Stanley Cup playoffs

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Will this be the year a former Saint John Sea Dog lifts the Stanley Cup?

Five former Sea Dogs and their teams have qualified for the NHL's playoffs: Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), Chris DiDomenico (Ottawa) and Nathan Beaulieu (Montreal) in the Eastern Conference and Charlie Coyle (Minnesota) and Tomas Jurco (Chicago) in the Western.

Simon Despres and the Anaheim Ducks also qualified, although the ex-Dogs defenceman has been on the injured reserve almost all season. He has appeared in just one game in 2016-17.

The Sens will face the Boston Bruins in the first round with the series beginning on Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre. Hoffman finished second on the team in scoring this season and will likely play big minutes in the playoffs. DiDomenico only appeared in three games after joining the club at mid-season.

Beaulieu, who had a career high in points this season, and the Habs will face the New York Rangers in the opening round. That series begins on Wednesday as well.

In the Western Conference, Jurco and the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks will take on the Nashville Predators. That series begins on Thursday. After being traded to the Blackhawks from the Detroit Red Wings, Jurco appeared in 13 games with his new club, scoring once.

Also in the west, Coyle, who is a brand now, and the Wild will take on Jake Allen and the St. Louis Blues. That series starts on Wednesday. Coyle recorded a career high 56 points this season.

Here's a look at how Sea Dogs alumni (and one current player) performed in the NHL this season.