FINAL (SO): Sea Dogs 3, Oceanic 2
RIMOUSKI, Que. – A mismatch on paper turned out to be a thriller Thursday night at Colisee de Rimouski.
The nationally top-ranked Saint John Sea Dogs took on the 13th best team in the Quebec Major Hockey Junior Hockey League, the Rimouski Oceanic, in an entertaining match. In the end, the Sea Dogs managed to come out on top by defeating the Oceanic 3-2 in a shootout.
Rimouski scored first but Saint John would tie it with less than two minutes to go in the opening frame. After some solid back-and-forth action throughout the tilt, Saint John took the lead with 1:50 to play in the third. But the Oceanic would storm back, tying the match with 21 seconds to go.
Despite Rimouski’s heroic efforts and a wild overtime session, the duo of Tomas Jurco and Jonathan Huberdeau were too much for them to overcome in the shootout.
Zack Phillips and Huberdeau scored in regulation for the Sea Dogs who won their franchise record setting 54th game of the season and now have 111 points on the year. The win also saw a great game from Mathieu Corbeil who made several big stops in the game.
It wasn’t the greatest game of the season for the Sea Dogs. With the offense having troubles all night long, it was one of those contests where the “best team found a way to win.”
Rimouski had goals from Jakub Culek and Patrick Delisle-Houde. Morgan Clark was solid in net, picking up first star honours in his 29 save loss.
The Oceanic did just about everything they could do to beat the Dogs. The loss keeps them 13th overall in the QMJHL and three points back of the 12th placed Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
FIRST PERIOD
Gabriel Bourret shot the puck on net early in the game and had it deflected high and out of play by the recently-turned sniper Alexandre Beauregard. Soon after, Danick Gauthier and Aidan Kelly entered the offensive zone on an odd man rush that featured Gautier keeping the puck and shooting it into the glove of Rimouski goaltender Morgan Clark.
Not long after, Felix Lefrancois was in close but had his shot stopped by Sea Dogs netminder Mathieu Corbeil.
The Oceanic opened the scoring at 6:09. Jerome Gauthier-Leduc did most of the work, coming down the wing and getting past several Sea Dogs with some nice moves. He then sent a shot on net that was stopped by the pad of Corbeil but it produced a big rebound. Jakub Culek had the yawning cage to give Rimouski a 1-0 lead.
Saint John went to the power play at 7:55. The Sea Dogs didn’t have a whole lot of shots but produced a decent man advantage despite not being able to score.
Rimouski went to a power play of their own at 12:04 when Gabriel Bourret put a hold on Petr Straka. Alex Emond let a shot go that was nicely stopped by Corbeil on the man advantage. The Sea Dogs then a had a decent shorthanded opportunity as Mike Thomas threw the puck in the crease from the corner. Gauthier was in front but wasn’t able to get a shot off.
When the penalty expired, Jonathan Huberdeau had a partial breakaway but was held up nicely by a Rimouski defenseman. Then, Patrick Delisle-Houde looked interested in trying a break of his own but was taken out by Eric Gelians as the blue line.
The Sea Dogs tied the match at 18:18. The puck was tossed in the crease area where Huberdeau tried to bang it in. After he couldn’t, Clark lost control of the disc, allowing Phillips to pick it up and dish home his 37th of the season to make it a 1-1 game going into intermission.
Shots in the first frame were 12-12.
SECOND PERIOD
Clark had a fairly massive turnover to start the second period as he gave a gift to Michael Kirkpatrick. The overage Sea Dog centered the puck with a backhander but nobody was there to receive the pass.
Saint John kept the pressure after that chance. Thomas was at the side of the cage and tried to jam the puck in but couldn’t get it past Clark’s pads. Gauthier led another two-on-one just moments later but shot it high and wide of the net. Steven Anthony had the final opportunity of the span, making a nice move to get in goal but was denied.
Rimouski started to turn it on after that. Alexandre Mallet had two great chances in front but Corbeil stood tall to make the saves. The action was unreal after the chance as both teams carried the play back-and-forth for a few minutes.
Thomas had another good opportunity for Saint John but cranked the puck just a bit wide.
The Oceanic then started to take things over. A big shot went off the glove of a diving Corbeil to start things off. Then Alex Belzile and Straka were in close but were both denied on some dangerous looking chances.
The Oceanic went to the power play at 13:36 as Gelinas put a hook on Straka. Corbeil came up huge for Saint John on the penalty kill, making a huge cross crease stop on Lefrancois. Then, a point shot through some traffic got through and found the iron but stayed out. It was a solid man advantage for Rimouski despite not being able to score.
Lebrancois had yet another chance a few minutes later by nailing the post.
Shots in the middle stanza were 12-7 Rimouski.
THIRD PERIOD
Thomas had yet another great scoring chance on a turnover but couldn’t register a shot. The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 3:00 but couldn’t get anything going and failed to get in the lead.
After a few minutes of nothing happening, Jurco let a snap shot go that was quickly padded away by Clark in the Oceanic crease.
It looked as though Rimouski had taken the lead moments later but the goal was immediately waved off. The puck was centered in front by Mallet and Culek’s shot was stopped. But the rebound lay in the crease behind Corbeil after the marker, allowing a Rimouski player the push the puck in off his skate. The goal was reviewed and the no-goal call would stand.
Soon after Kevin Gagne was stopped, the Oceanic broke in on the rare four-on-two odd man rush but sent the disc wide of the cage. Then Scott Oke made a move around Casey Babineau but was denied by Clark.
With 1:50 to go, Kirkpatrick centered the puck and somehow Huberdeau was there to tap in the hard pass to give the Dogs a late 2-1 advantage.
Although it looked as though Saint John would win the match in regulation, the Oceanic would not die. With their net empty, a Belzile shot was blocked and allowed Houde to go up high on Corbeil to tie the match at 2-2 and send the large crowd into a frenzy.
Shots in the final 20 minutes were 8-4 Sea Dogs.
OVERTIME
Stanislav Galiev fed Gabriel Bourret but was stopped in the early moments of overtime. Then Huberdeau was in close and tried to jam the disc past Clark but could not.
Leduc then a good opportunity for Rimouski but whistled the puck wide. Soon after, Straka centered the puck for Leduc who had a wide open cage but failed to get a shot off.
With just a couple of second remaining, Gelinas was sprung on a breakaway but had his shot stopped by Clark as the buzzer sounded to send the match to a shootout.
Shots in the extra session were 4-2 Sea Dogs.
SHOOTOUT
Rimouski shot first in the breakaway contest. Lefrancois came in but was denied by Corbeil and the puck was deflected wide. Jurco then shot for Saint John, going wide across the blue line and beating Clark with a forehand shot.
Leduc shot third but was denied by Corbeil. Huberdeau was the fourth shooter and won the game for Saint John by using his trademark move to make it a 3-2 final in favour of the visitors.
SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Defenseman Simon Despres, who left Saturday’s game after the first period with an unknown injury, was given the night off. According to News 88.9, Despres is okay and was simply given a night to rest.
Forwards Jason Cameron and Ryan Tesink were both healthy scratches.
THE NUMBERS
Saint John, Sea Dogs 3 (SO) at Rimouski, Océanic 2 - Status Final SO
Thursday, March 10, 2011 - Colisée de Rimouski
Saint John 1 0 1 0 - 3
Rimouski 1 0 1 0 - 2
1st Game Period-1, Rimouski, Culek 7 (Gauthier-Leduc, Boutet), 6:09. 2, Saint John, Phillips 37 (Huberdeau, Gélinas), 18:18. Penalties-Struthers Rim (tripping), 7:55; Bourret Snb (holding), 12:04.
2nd Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gélinas Snb (hooking), 13:36.
3rd Game Period-3, Saint John, Huberdeau 39 (Kirkpatrick), 18:10. 4, Rimouski, Delisle-Houde 14 (Gauthier-Leduc, Belzile), 19:39. Penalties-MacDonald Rim (hooking), 3:00.
1st OT Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout - Saint John 2 (Jurco G, Huberdeau G), Rimouski 0 (Lefrançois NG, Gauthier-Leduc NG).
Shots on Goal-Saint John 31. Rimouski 30.
Power Play Opportunities-Saint John 0 of 2; Rimouski 0 of 2.
Goalies-Saint John, Corbeil-Thériault 17-16-1-1 (30 shots-28 saves). Rimouski, Clark 13-11-0-3 (31 shots-29 saves).
A-5,012
Referees-Dominick Bédard (10).
Linesmen-Harold Dorvil (91), Maxime Joannis (79).
NOTES
Kevin Gagne with the flu, Steven Anthony with a lower body injury, and Eric Gelians with a charley horse all missed Saturday’s game but returned tonight… News 88.9 reported that Jacob DeSerres, who was Mathieu Corbeil’s backup on this night, has been battling some sickness and may not be ready to go Friday in Bathurst… the Sea Dogs are now tied for fourth all-time in the QMJHL in wins in a season with 54… Mathieu Corbeil was solid, earning News 88.9 Top Dog honours… as Saint John’s offense went dry, the lines were mixed up a bit. The mixture saw Kirkpatrick replace Galiev on a line with Huberdeau and Jurco for some time… Saint John has now won four straight… this was the first game of four straight matches on the road for the Dogs… Huberdeau now has 98 points on the year… a big crowd of 5,012 was on hand for this Thursday night game… to relive the match, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs are in Bathurst Friday night to take on the Titan at 7:30 pm.
Photo Credit: Stéphane Fournier/L'Advantage
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