STATION NATION RECAPFINAL/OT: Sea Dogs 2, Rocket 1
CHARLOTTETOWN – There is no question which team should have won this game.
For 57 minutes, the Prince Edward Island Rocket were all over the number two team in the country. But they are nationally ranked for a reason.
Nicholas Petersen scored late in the third and Tomas Jurco ended the game in overtime as the Saint John Sea Dogs took a 3-1 series lead thanks to a 2-1 win at the Civic Centre Wednesday.
The Sea Dogs, the top offensive team in the QMJHL this season, couldn’t get anything going offensively all night long until the dying minutes of the game. The PEI defense did another solid job against Saint John as they have done several times this year.
Net minder Evan Mosher was phenomenal in the Rocket crease, making some great saves on the Port City snipers. Many of his saves will not be on a highlight reel because he kept his play so simple and made stopping pucks look easy.
Marco Cousineau also played solid for Saint John, making some key saves when he had to. That included several breakaway’s and odd man rushes.
One of the stories of the post-season has been Saint John’s power play resurgence, but if went 0/4 on this night. The rocket went 1/5.
After a brief lighting delay to start this one, Stanislav Galiev was sent in all alone with Nicholas Petersen beside him. Galiev chose to shoot with Evan Mosher making the easy pad save. Then Mike Hoffman had a chance in front as he was left all alone. The Ottawa Senators prospect tried to go to the backhand but was robbed by the diving Mosher.
The physical play heated up half way through the first. Galiev laid a big hit on Jonathan Bonneau and then received a hit from Jarred Struthers. Mike Thomas leveled J-P Mathieu in the neutral zone and took a stick in the face that went unnoticed.
Samson Mahbod had the first real chance for PEI when he was stopped on a backhander as he streaked down the wing.
Jonathan Huberdeau took a penalty at 11:43 after taking down Brendan Wright. On the power play, Bonneau sent a wonderful cross ice pass down low to a creeping Mathieu. The Rocket captain beat a sprawling Cousineau to make it 1-0.
Jarrad Struthers got called for roughing at 12:26. But it was PEI who had the best chance in the two minute span. Hoffman made a bizarre play and allowed Michael Stinziani to go in alone on a partial break but was stopped by Cousineau.
The Rocket kept the pressure going when Mahbod took a short pass in the slot and deked to the backhand in close but was denied by the pad of the Saint John net minder. Then Cousineau was back at it when he robbed Bonneau at the side of the goal with a cross crease save.
Shots in the first period were 10-9 Rocket.
It was an uneventful second period on the offensive side of the game with neither team able to muster many scoring chances.
Yann Sauve was tossed from the game and given a five minute major penalty after he hit Struthers from behind in the corner at 0:44. The Rocket forward sat on the ice for a few minutes before going off under his own power. The Rocket looked poised to break the game open, but failed on the long power play opportunity and didn’t have many great scoring chances. The best came when Stinziani tried a wraparound chance that was stopped by Cousineau.
The Sea Dogs killed off another penalty at 7:38 when Michael Kirkpatrick went to the box. But when the penalty kill ended, Petersen had a great chance to tie the game as he picked off a turn over at the blue line. The 20-year old broke in and deked around a defenseman but couldn’t get a good shot off in the limited space.
At 14:58, Mahbod headed to the box for PEI. On the man advantage, Hoffman let a point shot go through traffic but was robbed by the glove of Mosher. Saint John had some solid pressure but couldn’t get many shots off.
Shots in the second were 10 apiece.
Galiev had the best chance early on with Mosher out of position and flopping all over the ice. The Russian rookie had the puck but couldn’t roof the disc over the net minder.
Benjamin Casavant got called for tripping at 5:55 but Saint John didn’t have any good chances on the power play despite some decent pressure.
Adam Polasek headed off at 11:25 followed by Kirkpatrick just over a minute later. PEI had some good pressure on the four-on-four play but couldn’t score.
Petersen was left all alone in the slot with just over five minutes to go but could only let a weak wrist shot go on goal. Then Thomas was robbed on a tip after Nathan Beaulieu sent a cross crease pass to his stick.
But Saint John finally got it together at 17:41. Kirkpatrick centered a pass from below the goal line to Petersen who was all alone in front. He slipped the puck into the empty cage to tie the tilt at 1-1.
Shots in the third frame were 7-2 Saint John.
It was all Saint John in overtime. Kirkpatrick had the first chance when he was left all alone at the side of the net but had his shot blocked. Then Phillips was sent in on a short breakaway but was challenged nicely by Mosher who made the save.
Then it was magic time for Tomas Jurco. Hoffman had the puck behind the net and gave a quick pass to Jurco sitting in front. The Slovak slid the puck under Mosher, putting the Dogs into delirium and the Rocket into disbelief.
Shots in overtime were 4-1 for the visitors.
NOTES: See Station Nation tomorrow for Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook.
NEXT GAME: Saint John looks the end the series Friday night at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station.
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