Sea Dogs Shutdown Mooseheads

FINAL: Saint John 5, Halifax 0

HALIFAX – It has been a wild few days for Mathieu Corbeil.

The 20-year old goaltender was recalled by the Columbus Blue Jackets on an emergency basis earlier this week, playing the role of Steve Mason’s backup on Tuesday. As if that wasn’t enough fun for one week, Corbeil recorded his first career Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season shutout on Friday night, backstopping the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-0 win over his former team.

Corbeil made some big stops in key moments in Saint John’s win over the Halifax Mooseheads. In total, the netminder made 20 stops in the building he once called home.

Friday night saw the Sea Dogs play a pretty solid game. They played well in the first period, okay in the second and then blew it open in the third. Saint John outshot Halifax 30-20.

Tomas Jurco had a pair of goals which were scored 15 seconds apart. Danick Gauthier, Jonathan Huberdeau and Scott Oke each had singles. Rookie Oliver Cooper had two assists.

Cooper had a more productive night than super rookie Nathan MacKinnon of the Mooseheads. Playing in his first game against Saint John, MacKinnon was held pointless, had two shots and was a -2.

Anthony Terenzio allowed five goals on 30 shots in the loss.

Saint John has now won three straight games. Friday’s loss ended the Mooseheads winning streak at five.

FIRST PERIOD

Saint John went to an early power play just 58 seconds in. The Dogs had some decent pressure on but couldn’t open the scoring.

The Mooseheads headed to the man advantage at 2:54 as Charles-Olivier Roussel headed off for tripping following a hip check. While shorthanded, the Sea Dogs had a two-on-one opportunity but Danick Gauthier ripped it off the shoulder of Anthony Terenzio and went out of play. The Moose couldn't get anything going on the power play.

Back at even strength, there was a turnover in front of the Moose net. Aidan Kelly picked it up but fired wide. Halifax had a good opportunity a few moments later on a three-on-one chance but was stopped hy the leg of Mathieu Corbeil.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 15:27. Tomas Jurco tipped a shot on goal down low but was stopped. At 17:40, Gauthier banged in a rebound in the crease to make it 1-0 Saint John.

The Mooseheads headed to the power play at 17:40 as Scott Oke headed off. After Halifax had some good pressure on, Jonathan Huberdeau was sprung on a breakaway. He made a deke to the forehand and beat Terenzio to give Saint John a 2-0 advantage.

Shots were 12-4 Saint John in the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Cuzner had a chance early on, shooting the puck wide in the slot. A little later, Nathan MacKinnon had the puck following a Kelly turnover but fired a hard shot into the glove of Corbeil.

The Mooseheads went to the power play at 4:42 as Huberdeau headed off. The Herd had some good pressure on during the man advantage. The two-minute span was highlighted by Luca Ciampini being robbed by the pad of Corbeil. The Sea Dogs had a decent shorthanded chance later but Terenzio kept the puck out as the visitors tried to jam it in.

Back at even strength, Stephen MacAulay came down the wing but ripped the disc high and wide. Then, MacKinnon went end-to-end with the puck and centered it in front but Darcy Ashley couldn’t could get to it in time to get a shot off.

The Sea Dogs went back to the power play at 15:21. Saint John couldn’t get anything going on the man advantage, though. MacAulay had the only decent opportunity, centering the puck in front but was kept out by Terenzio.

Shots were 10-8 Halifax in the middle stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

Early in the frame, Zack Phillips had the puck at the dot and shot through some traffic but Terenzio made the stop.

Saint John went to the power play at 4:11. While shorthanded, the Mooseheads’ Konrad Abeltshauser was robbed by the pad of Corbeil. The man advantage ended at 5:33 when Jurco was sent to the box. On the Moose power play, Joshua Desmond rocked MacAulay with a big time hit.

Back at even strength, the Sea Dogs made it a 3-0 game at 9:02. The original shot hit the post and deflected into the crease, allowing Scott Oke to bang it home.

Not long after at 13:14, Tomas Jurco crossed the line and snipped the puck past Terenzio to put the Dogs ahead 4-0. It became a Sea Dogs blowout just 15 seconds later when Jurco scored again on a wrist shot to put Saint John ahead 5-0.

Halifax’s third period got even worse at 14:48 as Alexandre Cote served a too many men in the ice penalty. Saint John had some good power play pressure but could not extend their lead.

Late in the frame, the Sea Dogs had the puck in the crease again but couldn’t jam it in. That would be all she wrote.

Shots were 10-3 Sea Dogs in the third period.

Saint John went 1-for-5 on the power play while Halifax went 0-for-4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station.