Sea Dogs Drop Foreurs 4-1

FINAL: Saint John 4, Val-d’Or 1

VAL-D’OR – The Saint John Sea Dogs ended their Quebec road trip on a winning note.

Zack Phillips scored twice and added an assist in the Sea Dogs’ 4-1 victory over the Val-d’Or Foreurs on Saturday night at the Air Creebec Centre in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Jason Cameron and Stephen MacAulay added the other two Saint John goals.

Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil wasn’t tested too much, facing only 15 shots in the win.

Neither team had many offensive chances in the opening frame. It wasn’t until the second period that the Sea Dogs got on the board, ending Val-d’Or’s lengthy shutout streak. Saint John led 2-0 entering the third period where they would add two more to take the contest 4-1.

Former Sea Dog Nicolas Marcoux scored the lone Foreurs goal. Francois Tremblay, last week’s Candian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week, allowed four goals on 28 shots in the loss.

The victory improved the Sea Dogs to 9-5-0-0 on the season and a 2-1 record on their road trip.

FIRST PERIOD

After a few minutes of nothing, Nathan Beaulieu and Cedrick Henley got into some rough stuff, resulting in matching penalties at 2:23. Six seconds later, Olivier Dallaire tripped Jonathan Huberdeau to send Saint John to the power play.

On the man advantage, the Sea Dogs even called a time-out but failed to connect.

A few moments later, Val-d’Or goaltender Francois Tremblay let out a rebound which was followed by Ryan Tesink crashing the net but not scoring. Then, Jean-Francois Leblanc ripped a shot from the wing that was stopped by the pad of Saint John netminder Mathieu Corbeil.

Beaulieu headed to the box again at 7:44. The Foreurs couldn’t get anything going as the Dogs produced a great kill.

Later on, Huberdeau cut through the crease but failed to score. Then, Tremblay reached behind him to rob Danick Gauthier of a goal and keep it scoreless after one.

Shots were 8-3 Saint John in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Like the first, the second period got off to a slow start. Benjamin Casavant had decent chance early on but was denied by the pad of Corbeil. A few moments later, Olivier Cooper sprung Devon Oliver-Dares on a breakaway. He made a nice deke and had room to score but couldn’t get a shot off.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 6:10 but couldn’t get much going. Val-d’Or had two good opportunities to open the scoring while shorthanded. Mathieu Guertin had a partial break but Corbeil came out to smother the puck. Then, following a faceoff win, Guillaume Gelinas hit the post.

Back at even strength, the Foreurs were trying to jam the disc in at the side of the goal but Corbeil kept it out.

Some four-on-four play was created at 9:45 following some rough stuff. During that span, Tomas Jurco had a couple of good chances in close but couldn’t manage to hit the back of the net. Back at five-on-five, Michael Beuadry fed Casavant on a two-on-one but he ripped it wide.

Saint John opened the scoring at 15:38 as Zack Phillips ripped the puck past Tremblay, ending Val-d’Or’s shutout streak.

The Dogs didn’t stop there as Jason Cameron pushed the puck in at 17:49 to give the visitors a 2-0 edge after 40 minutes.

Shots were 7-4 Saint John in the middle stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

Just 55 seconds into the third period, Phillips snipped his second of the game by beating Tremblay high glove side to make it a 3-0 game.

A few moments later, Gauthier fired a hard shot that hit the crossbar. They would review the play and the no goal call would stand.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, some rough stuff in the corner at 8:04 brought the match back to life. The Dogs had some good pressure on following that sequence but couldn’t extend their lead.

Some more roughing penalties were handed out at 10:55 following a scrum in the crease. During the four-on-four span, Tesink had a wide open cage but sent it wide.

Gauthier headed to the box at 16:52 for hooking. Huberdeau and Tesink broke in on a shorthanded two-on-one but couldn’t connect. At 18:05, the Foreurs would connect on the man advantage as Nicolas Marcoux netted his eighth of year to make it a two-goal game.

Just as the buzzer sounded, Phillips found Stephen MacAulay who beat Tremblay to make it a 4-1 final.

Shots were 13-8 in favour of Saint John in the third.

The Sea Dogs went 0-for-2 on the power play while the Foreurs went 1-for-2.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs head to Halifax on Friday to face the Mooseheads at 7pm.