RECAP: Grinding It Out. Dogs Win 2-1.

FINAL (OT): Saint John 2, Moncton 1

MONCTON – The Saint John Sea Dogs and their depleted lineup just keep finding ways to grind out wins.

The Sea Dogs were without the services of Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, Aidan Kelly, Stephen MacAulay and Ryan Tesink on Tuesday due to injuries. They also lost Jason Seed in the third period after he was hit from behind. But despite the adversity, the Sea Dogs managed to pull off a 2-1 overtime victory over the Moncton Wildcats on at the Coliseum.

To put it simply, the Sea Dogs played a solid game. They worked with what they had, put in a strong effort, and walked away with the extra point. Although it wasn’t pretty at times – like on that five-minute power play – it got the job done.

Stephen Anderson scored in regulation while Charles-Olivier Roussel had the game-winner in the extra frame. Zack Phillips and Tomas Jurco both recorded two assists. Phillips’ points extended his streak to 20 games.

Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil had a strong game, making 30 saves and earning first star honours.

Moncton’s lone goal came from Olivier Daoust. Roman Will allowed a pair of goals on 30 shots.

The win improved the Sea Dogs to 24-7-0-1 on the year and remain first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Despite all the injuries of late, they are still winning. They are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10 games and have won three straight.

FIRST PERIOD

The Wildcats had the better of the chances early in the first period. A few minutes in, a point shot was redirected on goal but was kept out nicely by Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil.

A little later on, there was a scrum in the Moncton crease involving Danick Gauthier but he couldn’t jam it in.

Gauthier headed to the box at 8:22 to give the league’s best power play a chance to open the scoring. Marek Hrivik had a decent chance early in the man advantage as he tried to jam the disc under Corbeil’s pad but was not successful. The ‘Cats had some decent pressure but could not score.

As the period grew on, Saint John began to get some momentum going. They got a big boost at 13:33 when Stephen Anderson beat Wildcats goaltender Roman Will down low to put the visitors up 1-0.

Soon after the goal, Anderson was left all alone in front and tried to beat Will with a deke but was denied by his leg. Tomas Jurco grabbed the rebound but was stopped as well.

Later on in the frame, McKenzie let a shot go that just sailed high of the net.

Shots were 11-10 Moncton in the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Saint John went to the power play at 1:47 of the second period. On the man advantage, Gauthier was parked in front of the net but couldn’t grab the puck when it sailed through the crease. A few moments later, Will made a hug glove save on Nathan Beaulieu.

Back at even strength, nothing happened for quite some time. Anderson then had a decent chance but sent his backhand wide.

At 9:34, Daniel Elser and Oliver Cooper dropped the gloves in the neutral zone. Elser picked up the win, but also a 10-minute misconduct because of equipment issues.

Patrick Delisle-Houde had a great opportunity a few minutes following the fight. Corbeil poked checked the puck out of danger but Houde crept in from the point and blasted a shot off the Sea Dogs goaltender’s shoulder. The Wildcats kept the pressure on as a Brandon Shea shot was stopped.

The Wildcats tied the match up at 1-1 at 13:30 as Olivier Daoust collected a rebound and beat Corbeil with a low shot.

Shortly after the goal, the Dogs had several great chances in front of the ‘Cats goal. After the Dogs failed to jam the puck in during a scrum, Spencer MacDonald let a backhand shot go wide. Then Anderson had another solid opportunity but sent it wide.

Soon after Erik Robichaud sent a shot wide, Moncton headed back to the power play at 19:14 as Beaulieu headed off. The man advantage would carry over into the third.

Shots were 10-9 in favour of the Wildcats in the middle stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

The Wildcats couldn’t get much going on the power play that carried over, so the game remained tied.

At 2:20 of the third, Olivier Daoust nailed Jason Seed from behind and into the end boards. Seed stayed on the ice before heading to the dressing room. He did not return. As for Daoust, he fought Ian Saab before being slapped with a five-minute major penalty, giving the Sea Dogs a great opportunity to take the lead.

On the man advantage, the Sea Dogs couldn’t get much of anything going. The Wildcats had a great scoring chance during the time span though as Allain Saulnier cut in front but was robbed by the glove of Corbeil.

Back at even strength, Brown fed Kevin Gagne at the side of the goal but was stopped. Then Jurco performed a wraparound but Will made the save. Elser then had a decent chance for Moncton, coming down the wing and letting a hard shot go that was stopped by Corbeil. Gauthier had a good chance late in the frame, cutting in front with some speed but ran into some traffic and couldn’t get a good shot off.

Shots in the third were 9-8 Saint John.

OVERTIME

Fast-forward to 3:38 of the extra frame, Charles-Olivier Roussel cut in from the corner and let a backhand shot go on goal. The puck got past Will and into the net, giving Saint John a 2-1 win.

Shots were 2-2 in overtime.

Both teams went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Shawinigan Cataractes on Saturday at 7pm.