DESPRES DELIVERS IN GAME ONE

SN RECAP
FINAL: Olympiques 1, Sea Dogs 2

SAINT JOHN – It was a battle, but the Saint John Sea Dogs took Game One of the President’s Cup final on Thursday night at Harbour Station.

Simon Despres scored the winner at 12:17 of the third period to give the Sea Dogs a 2-1 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques. The win gives Saint John a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven matchup. Game Two is Saturday night at the Station.

Danick Gauthier scored the other Sea Dogs goal, a marker that gave the top-ranked team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League a 1-0 lead after one. Hubert Labrie scored the lone Olympiques goal in the middle stanza.

Gatineau goaltender Maxime Clermont was solid in net, making 35 stops in the loss. Jacob DeSerres made 22 saves in the Sea Dogs crease.

The game went pretty much as expected. Saint John has plenty of opportunities but had a difficult time getting through the Gatineau defense and goaltending.

“We had some good chances, but we didn’t always bear down (enough),’’ Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Canadian Press. “I thought there was some rust in our game tonight. Overall, we played a decent game, but not good enough for what we need and hopefully we’ll be a lot better Saturday night.’’

FIRST PERIOD
Philippe Halley had the first great chance of the game as he tipped the puck just wide of Sea Dogs netminder Jacob DeSerres above the crease. Gatineau was buzzing early and had some pressure on but the Sea Dogs quickly took the period over.

Danick Gauthier entered the zone and ripped a shot just off the outside of the Olympiques post. Then, a point shot by a Sea Dog went through some traffic and deflected just wide of Gatineau ‘tender Maxime Clermont. Alexandre Beauregard had an opportunity moments later as he tried to jam it past the pad of Clermont but couldn’t.

A few minutes later, a point shot produced a rebound to Mike Thomas in front but couldn’t get a hold of the puck. Then, a sharp angle shot along the goal line was stopped by Clermont with Jonathan Huberdeau causing some problems at the side of the cage.

The Sea Dogs struck first at 12:35. Gauthier came across the line and entered the Olympiques zone on an innocent looking rush. He went one-on-one with a defenseman and used him as a screen to rifle a wrist shot upstairs on Clermont to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead.

Just after the goal, Gatineau’s Jacob Conrad was sprung on a breakaway but sent it wide.

Saint John had another dangerous looking opportunity later in the frame as a scramble caused Clermont to dive and try to poke it away but no Saint John player could get the disc while he was down. Cody Linteau had a good chance for Gatineau late in the frame, shooting into the legs of a Sea Dogs defenseman in the slot area.

Shots in the first frame were 13-7 in favour of Saint John.

SECOND PERIOD
Saint John went to their first power play of the game just 44 seconds into the second period. On the ensuing man advantage, Zack Phillips sent the puck to Jonathan Huberdeau who spun around in front and backhanded it on goal but was denied. Later, Phillips centered the puck through the blue paint to a wide open Huberdeau but he couldn’t get a shot off. The Dogs had a good power play but couldn’t connect.

When the man advantage ended, Phillips performed a wraparound but was stopped by the pad of Clermont.

The Olympiques tied the match at 7:38. Hubert Labrie somehow scored during a strange sequence to make it a 1-1 game.

Gauthier had another chance following the goal as he sent a wrist shot that hit the top of the glove of Clermont and trickled through the blue paint and out. Then Gatineau had an opportunity as a point shot bounced down in front but rolled wide.

The Sea Dogs had a couple of chances after that. The puck was centered in front for Scott Oke who was denied by Clermont. He still had the puck at the side of the goal and threw it on net only to have Labrie grab it with his hand at the other side and take it out of danger. Not long after, Stanislav Galiev had a breakaway but was stopped by the pad of Clermont on his deke.

Gatineau created another scoring chance as the puck went to Mitchell Porowski parked in front but was robbed by a huge pad stop by DeSerres.

At 18:38, some rough stuff created some four-on-four play. During that span, Pierre Durepos let a one-time shot go from the bottom of the circle but was stopped nicely by ‘Piques goaltender.

Shots in the second period were 17-10 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
Gatineau went to the man advantage at 1:48 of the third period as Stephen MacAulay was called for boarding. Who other than Gauthier would had a shorthanded chance? He would be stopped though and the Sea Dogs would kill off the penalty.

Later on, Durepos nailed Halley with a huge hit that sent his helmet flying, causing a buzz around the building. A few moments later, Labrie fed Felix Bergeron in the slot but had his shot blocked. Soon after, Phillips was looking dangerous in the slot area but made too many passes to create a decent scoring chance.

Finally, at 12:17, the Sea Dogs would strike again. Simon Despres fired a wrist from inside the line through a little bit of traffic and beat Clermont up high to put the Sea Dogs ahead 2-1.

Not long after the goal, the puck was in the Saint John crease and hit a skate, just staying out and getting cleared out of the danger zone.

Saint John went to the power play at 14:47. Their only good opportunity came when Galiev fired a shot off the post and out.

Gatineau pulled their netminder with plenty of time left in favour of the extra attacker. Adam Janosik let a point shot go during the span that was bobbled but quickly gloved by DeSerres to insure a Sea Dogs victory.

Shots in the final frame were 7-6 for the home side.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Olympiques battle in Game Two of the President’s Cup final on Saturday night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation