SN RECAP
FINAL (SO): Sagueneens 4, Sea Dogs 3
SAINT JOHN – An epic comeback fell short at Harbour Station on Saturday night, and in the end, the better team won.
The Chicoutimi Sagueneens walked into Harbour Station Saturday and stole the extra point away from the Saint John Sea Dogs via a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory. The loss ended Saint John’s six game winning streak and gave the Dogs their first loss at home in nine games.
The Sagueneens made it look easy for most of the match, carrying the play for much of the game and keeping Saint John’s powerful offense at bay. But with one minute left to go in the game and the Sea Dogs down 3-1, a performance that would make Jordan Eberle proud tied the affair in stunning fashion.
But in the end, the better team on the night would be victorious as the Sags downed the Sea Dogs 2-1 in the breakaway challenge.
Eric Gelinas, Steve Lebel, and Billy Lacasse all scored for the winners. Robin Gusse picked up his first win of the season by stopping 36-of-39 shots. He was solid.
Mike Thomas, Nathan Beaulieu, and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Saint John. Frederic Piche certainly gave the Dogs a chance win, stopping 30-of-33 shots.
FIRST PERIOD
The Sea Dogs dominated the first part of the opening frame but could not score. A puck was centered in the crease for Tomas Jurco but it went off his skate and wide. Then Huberdeau made some sick stickhandling moves to get around a defenseman only to have a pass go off Jurco’s foot yet again.
A few minutes later, Stanislav Galiev had a great chance when he stole the puck at the dot and walked around Gusse in the crease but fired the puck wide.
The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 7:46 but could not apply any pressure. After killing off the penalty, Emrik Guillemette came down the wing and fired a shot from a wide angle, forcing Piche to make a nice save.
At 14:04 and Zach Phillips serving an interference penalty, the Sags would open the scoring. On a failed Saint John clearing attempt, Gelinas fired a bouncing puck through traffic that beat Piche upstairs to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Galiev then fed a streaking Michael Kirkpatrick but he couldn’t get a stick on the puck. Rock Regimbald then had a good opportunity at the other end in front but whiffed on the shot.
After Saint John successfully killed off a Danick Gauthier penalty, Huberdeau was denied on a solid wraparound move.
Shots in the first period were 15-7 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
Alexandre Roy had the best chance for Chicoutimi early on when he had his shot blockered away by Piche. Gauthier then had a good chance for Saint John after his original shot produced a rebound that trickled just wide of the post.
Shortly after Alexandre Lavoie hit the crossbar, the Sags opened up a 2-0 lead. A shot from the corner found the crease area and Lebel was able to get a stick on it to force it across the goal line at 6:15.
Chicoutimi then began to take control of the game. Gelinas ripped a shot from just inside the line and hit Piche square in the head. Then, Nicolas Therrien fired a shot off the crossbar.
The Sea Dogs went to another power play at 13:13. Their best chance came when Galiev hit the outside of the post from a bad angle.
At 19:49, Lebel was called for slashing. When the final buzzer went, a massive scrum took place behind the Chicoutimi goal with everyone getting involved – including Gusse. Huberdeau and Therrien got into it on the ice but nothing would come out of it.
Shots in the middle session were 16-7 Chicoutimi.
THIRD PERIOD
The Sea Dogs finally found the score sheet at 7:01 of the third period. The play all started when Tyrone Sock made a nice play at the line to keep the puck in. Thomas was then given the puck and went around the back-of-the-net, sliding it past Gusse to make it 2-1.
But just 29 seconds later, the Sags scored an unbelievably deflating goal. The puck was knocked down at the line and then passed up ahead to Lacasse he tipped the puck up and over Piche to give Chicoutimi their two goal lead back.
Galiev had a good chance later on, firing a wrist shot that produced a juicy rebound that was stopped also.
The Sea Dogs were called for too many men at 14:11, making it look like all hope was lost for Saint John. But after a successful kill, Piche was pulled with lots of time left. Roy missed an empty net for Sags with just over a minute left, allowing the Sea Dogs to go into magic mode in the final minute.
Phillips sent an unreal pass from the corner to a streaking Beaulieu at 19:10. His goal made it 3-2 with lots of time and left. The Sea Dogs called a time-out following the marker to work out some kind of plan.
With under 20 seconds to go, the puck was jammed into the corner and was stuck there for some time. Phillips managed to dig it out and walked behind the net, sending a short pass to Huberdeau along the goal line. Huberdeau fired from an impossible angle and beat Gusse to tie the game at 3-3 with 4.5 seconds left of the clock. Harbour Station then blew up.
Shots in the third were 14-9 Saint John.
OVERTIME
Saint John put on some great pressure in overtime. Galiev was an animal and it looked like he was going to end it several times. But he didn’t.
Shots in OT were 3-1 Sea Dogs.
SHOOTOUT
Gelinas shot first, beating Piche with a wrist shot to make it 1-0 in the breakaway challenge. After Jurco missed, Lebel went five-hole to give the Sags a two goal lead.
Huberdeau pulled off his trademark move as the second Saint John shooter. Charles Hudon was then absolutely robbed by the leg of Piche, putting the pressure on Michael Kirkpatrick who had to score to keep Saint John’s hopes alive.
But the 20-year veteran would shot wide, giving the Sagueneens a 2-1 win the shootout and a 4-3 win overall.
Chicoutimi was 1/4 on the power play while Saint John was 0/3.
NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan next Saturday at Harbour Station.
SSS TICKETS: There are still a limited amount of tickets available for Game One of the Subway Super Series on Monday at Harbour Station.
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