STATION NATION POST-GAMEShawinigan- It was a homecoming of sorts for Nicholas Petersen. The Saint John Sea Dogs sniper spent two seasons in Shawinigan before being acquired by the Sea Dogs this June. In his return to the Bionest Centre he did not disappoint scoring a pair of goals and dishing out an assist. His effort was for a losing cause as the Sea Dogs fell 5-4 in overtime to Shawinigan.
Saint John's goaltending issues continue to be a problem as Karel St-Laurent allowed five goals on 31 shots faced.
Steven Anthony, Olivier Oullet, and Peterson scored for Saint John. Gabriel Lemieux (showed in picture), Pierre-Alexandre Vandall, Michael Bourival and Pierrick Martel scored for the Cataractes. Gabriel Gerard got the win stopping 40 shots from an explosive Saint John offense.
Shawinigan opened the scoring at 6:19 of the first period when Gabriel Lemieux blasted a shot from the point. The shot bounced off the lively Bionest Centre backboards and off of St-Laurent's left leg and in.
Saint John had a hard time getting anything on Cataractes goalie Gabriel Gerard down low. The Sea Dogs took a 11-9 shots on goal advantage to the dressing room.
Raphael Pouliot was stopped on a breakaway to open the second period after a Saint John defensive miscue.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a terrific chance to tie the game. He took a wrist shot that went up and over the shoulder of Gerard but hit the crossbar. The goal was reviewed and determined no goal.
Nicholas Petersen, making his Saint John debut, made his presence known when he assisted on Steven Anthony's game tying goal at 7:13. Petersen dropped a pass to a streaking Anthony who beat Gerard high glove side.
Saint John gained momentum following the goal and had several scoring chances. The Dogs took a 2-1 lead at 13:19 when Olivier Oullet scored from the top of the face-off circle.
Just moments after Saint John took the lead, Shawinigan's Pierre-Alexandre Vandall found a loose puck in the Sea Dogs crease and banged it home at 13:49 to tie the game 2-2.
With no time remaining on the clock, Michael Bournival scored on the power play to give the Cataractes a 3-2 lead going into the third. The goal was reviewed but was declared a goal. Saint John deserved a better fate after outplaying Shawinigan in the second period.
With Lemieux in the box, Petersen took advantage by getting his first career goal in a Sea Dogs uniform. He made a patient play at 3:46 of the third and fired high glove side. Asists went to Nathan Beaulieu and Michael Kirkpatrick.
With under three minutes remaining, Pierrick Matrel scored what looked like the winning goal for the Cataractes. He went wide on Simon Despres beat St-Laurent over the glove. The lead was short lived.
Petersen burned his former teammates scoring with just 10 seconds remaining in the game. The forward came onto the ice as the extra man with St-Laurent on the bench. In a last ditch effort, he lifted a shot up and over the left shoulder of Gerard to send the game to overtime.
The Sea Dogs dominated most of the extra frame but were still out shot 5-2.
One of those shots got by St-Laurent to give Shawiniagn the extra point. Lemieux scored at 4:28 when he took a great pass from Vandall for the easy tap-in on the Saint John goal.
With the loss the Sea Dogs fall to 5-3-0-0 on the season.
NOTES: The attendance was 3,119... Nicholas Petersen earned second star honors in his Saint John debut... Karel St-Laurent didn't have his strongest game in net. This a day after Marc-Antoine Gelinas was pulled in a 7-4 loss to Montreal on Friday... Benjamin Lecomte played in his first game in a week. He replaced rookie Gabriel Bourret. Sea Dogs director of hockey operations Mike Kelly said that Bourret was not being punished after a bad defensive mistake on Friday that cost Saint John a goal against... Scott Oke and Robert McEwan were healthy scratches... Tom Roszell had an interesting interview with Sea Dogs Governor Joe Richard on News 88.9. Richard said that "one or two" franchises have serious financial problems.
NEXT GAME: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres. Sunday, September 4, 2009, at 5:00 pm AST at Desjardins Colisee.
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