RECAP: Grigorenko's Show. Dogs Lose 4-1.

FINAL: Saint John 1, Quebec 4

QUEBEC CITY – The good news was that Zack Phillips extended his point streak to 17 games. The bad news was the score.

The Saint John Sea Dogs fell 4-1 to the Quebec Remparts on Tuesday night at Quebec Colisee. The loss was Saint John’s second straight while Quebec has now won nine consecutive games.

The offense just wasn’t there again for the Sea Dogs. Missing Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco and Aidan Kelly due to injuries, the Sea Dogs fired 26 shots on goal and went 0-for-4 on the power play.

Phillips was the only Sea Dog who could beat Remparts goaltender Louis Domingue, ending his shutout bid with 4:40 to go in the game. Mathieu Corbeil allowed four goals on 33 shots.

Mikhail Grigorenko stole the show for Quebec by netting a hat trick. Patrick Walsh had the other Quebec goal. Domingue made 25 stops for the win.

Not much else to say about this one. Sea Dogs play their next seven games in New Brunswick.

FIRST PERIOD

Nothing happened in the first few minutes of the game. Things picked up when Anthony Duclair had the first legit chance, forcing Mathieu Corbeil to make a fine pad stop. Moments later, McKenzie Brown made a nice move to get around a Quebec defenseman. He got a shot off in close but was denied by Louis Domingue.

Then the penalties started. At 8:38, Adam Erne headed off to put the Sea Dogs on the power play. But the man advantage was short lived as Nathan Beaulieu headed off at 9:54 following Domingue’s very solid Nicola Riopel impression. Then at 10:47, Vincent Barnard was called for high sticking but the Dogs couldn’t get any great scoring opportunities on the power play.

The Remparts headed back to the power play at 14:42. On the man advantage, the Remparts had some pressure on but didn’t have any great chances.

Later on in the period, Joe Dube and Jeremie Malouin broke in on a two-on-one. Dube passed over to Malouin who dove to get his stick on the puck and get a decent shot off that was padded away by Corbeil.

In the dying second of the period, Oliver Cooper fed Danick Gauthier who had a wide open net but sent it wide.

Shots win the opening frame were 11-8 Quebec in the first period. The Remparts went 12/17 in the faceoff circle.

SECOND PERIOD

Early in the second period, Adam Erne hit the outside of the post. Then following a scramble in the Saint John crease, Ian Saab was called for roughing. On the man advantage at 4:29, Mikhail Grigorenko crept into the slot and ripped the puck past Corbeil to put the Remparts up 1-0.

Some four-on-four play took place at 4:56 as Stephen MacAulay and Tam headed off for roughing. A little later on, Erne had a great chance as he had a step on the Saint John defense but was stopped nicely by Beaulieu.

The Remparts headed back to the man advantage at 7:14 but couldn’t connect.

But Quebec would connect at 9:28 as Grigorenko scored his second on the match to put them home side up 2-0.

The Sea Dogs headed to the power play at 9:41 after Ryan Culkin put a head shot on Cooper. Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t too happy with the officials, wanting more from the call. On the power play, Beaulieu had a good chance from the dot but was denied by Domingue.

Some more four-on-four play took place at 12:53 after Grant West slashed the stick out of the hands of Grigorenko which was followed by Duclair being called for roughing. During the four-on-four, Grigorenko had another great chance but was denied.

Shots were 15-7 in favour of the Remparts in the middle stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

Grigorenko had a chance early on but was stopped. Then MacAulay had a wraparound chance but was denied. Scott Oke had a great chance moments later ripping the puck high of the goal. A little later on, Alexandre Comtois had a breakaway but was stopped by Corbeil.

Grigorenko made it a 3-0 game at 9:57. Duclair centered the puck to the Russian after Saint John was caught on a line change, giving him all kinds of room to snap one home.

Not long after at 10:09, Patrick Walsh connected to put Quebec up 4-0.

Zack Phillips finally put the Sea Dogs on the board at 15:20 as he beat Domingue upstairs.

The Sea Dogs pulled Corbeil with a few minutes left in the game but couldn’t get anything going. Charles-Olivier Roussel and Malouin dropped the gloves with 15 seconds remaining.

Shots were 11-7 Saint John in the third period.

The Sea Dogs went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Remparts went 1-for-4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Friday night at 7:30pm.

Photo Credit: Hebdo Quebec