BAIE-COMEAU, Que. – It was quite a battle, but the Saint John Sea Dogs were able to defeat the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 3-2 on Saturday evening in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
The Sea Dogs never led in the game until 14:52 of the third period when Nathan Beaulieu blasted a shot past Baie-Comeau goaltender Jimmy Appleby, giving Saint John a late 3-2 lead. The Drakkar gave the Dogs a scare in the dying seconds but were able to hang on.
Tomas Jurco and Kevin Gagne scored the other Saint John goals. Zack Phillips had two assists in the contest. Goaltender Sebastien Auger made 25 stops for the win.
Baie-Comeau had goals from Tomas Filippi and Jean-Philippe Caron. Alexandre Durette had a pair of helpers. Appleby allowed three goals on 30 shots in the loss.
It didn’t look like either team was running at 100 percent on Saturday at the Henry Leonard Centre. The two teams battled on Friday as well with Saint John coming out on top with a 7-0 victory.
The win gave Saint John a 2-1 record on their Quebec road swing.
FIRST PERIOD
At 1:42, Ian Saab and Gabriel Verpaelst dropped the gloves. The two had a long and solid tilt before heading to the sin bin.
A little later after the scrap, Charles Poulin was stopped in front by the pad of Saint John goaltender Sebastien Auger. The Dogs headed to the power play at 4:42 but didn’t have any great chances.
Tomas Filippi opened the scoring at 7:12. He was along the side boards and threw the puck towards the net. It went through some traffic and past then past Auger to give the Drakkar a 1-0 lead.
Baie-Comeau headed to the man advantage at 9:01 but couldn’t get much going. Back at even strength, Nathan Beaulieu had a decent chance as he fired the disc through some traffic but was stopped by the glove of Baie-Comeau ‘tender Jimmy Appleby.
At 13:50, Huberdeau headed to the box for the second time in the frame. Then at 15:48, Scott Oke headed off as well. When Huberdeau came out of the box, he and Stephen MacAulay went in on a two-on-one. The Sea Dogs captain passed over to MacAulay who was stopped by Appleby. Later on during the man advantage, Alexandre Durette had a couple of chances but was stopped.
The Sea Dogs tied it 59 seconds remaining in the period. Zack Phillips fired a shot from just inside the line. Appleby made the stop but couldn’t stop Tomas Jurco on the doorstep.
Shots were 10-9 Saint John in the opening stanza.
SECOND PERIOD
Just 1:49 in, Scott Oke and Samuel Noreau dropped the gloves after Oke laid a big hit. Noreau picked up an extra instigator penalty while Oke was also called for boarding.
Soon after the scrap, Maxim Lamarche cranked the puck off the crossbar.
It was all Drakkar in the first half of the second period. Around the 13-minute mark, Thomas Gobeil was hit by Saab. He sat on the ice for several minutes before being helped to the dressing room. Soon after Baie-Comeau got some pressure on. Francis Turbide was alone in front but was stopped by Auger. The rebound went to Lukas Cingel who was stopped as well.
The Drakkar went to the power play at 10:15 as Oliver Cooper headed to the box. On the man advantage, Samuel Carrier let a point shot go that was deflected but kept out. Baie-Comeau had some good pressure on but couldn’t take the lead.
In the final few minutes of the period, the Sea Dogs started to push back and take control. At 19:06, the Dogs headed to the power play. Saint John had some solid pressure but couldn’t connect in the first part of the man advantage.
Shots were 10-5 in favour of Baie-Comeau in the period.
THIRD PERIOD
The Sea Dog couldn’t covert on the power play that carried over into the third, so the game remained tied.
After several minutes of back-and-forth play, Baie-Comeau took a 2-1 lead at 6:44. On a two-on-one, Tomas Filippi sent a perfect pass to Jean-Philippe Caron through the crease who beat Auger to give the home team the lead again.
But the Sea Dogs quickly tied it up. At 8:03, Kevin Gagne was in the high slot and beat Appleby with a hard wrist shot through some traffic to make it a 2-2 affair.
Durette had a great chance moments later for the Drakkar but Auger made a fine pad stop. Then, on a two-on-one, Stephen MacAulay was unable to get a good shot off.
Saint John went to the power play 14:41. On the man advantage at 14:52, Nathan Beaulieu blasted the puck from inside the line and beat Appleby to give Saint John their first lead of the contest.
A few moments later, Gauthier was robbed by Appleby as the puck came close to the goal line but stayed out. Saint John had another man advantage opportunity at 17:40 but they were unable to add to their lead.
With eight seconds left, Beaulieu headed to the box to give the Drakkar a golden opportunity to tie it up. Following a faceoff win in the Sea Dogs zone, the Drakkar nailed the post but the puck stayed out. After the buzzer blew, the play was reviewed and ruled no goal.
Shots in the final period were 15-8 Sea Dogs.
Saint John went 1-for-4 on the power play while Baie-Comeau went 0-for-5.
NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel on PEI on Friday to face the Rocket at 7pm.
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