RECAP: That Just Happened. Dogs Lose 4-3.

FINAL: PEI 4, Saint John 3 (SO)

SAINT JOHN – Matthew Bursey had quite a homecoming on Friday night at Harbour Station.

The Saint John native stunned his hometown team by scoring the shootout winner to give the Prince Edward Island Rocket an improbable 4-3 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs. Bursey had a section of Harbour Station cheering him on loudly throughout the game and they exploded when he beat Sea Dogs goaltender Sebastien Auger in the third round of the shootout.

The Rocket were 1.1 seconds away from losing but Josh Currie netted the equalizer, sending the game to overtime and eventually a shootout. Jessyko Bernard and Ben Duffy had the other regulation goals for PEI. Maxime Lagace made 33 saves for the win.

PEI opened the scoring but never took the lead again. The Rocket battled all night long and never allowed the Sea Dogs to take a two-goal lead.

As for Saint John, it was pretty much the same story. The Sea Dogs were missing seven regular forwards and Scott Oke who was traded on Thursday. They just couldn’t grind out another goal. Saint John’s power play also struggled, going 0-for-4.

It certainly wasn’t the greatest way to end the 2011 home schedule.

The Dogs had goals from Aidan Kelly, Stephen MacAulay, and Charles-Olivier Roussel. Auger made 20 saves in the loss.

At 2:01 of the first period, Ben Duffy was in the corner and sent it out to Jessyko Bernard who was near the side of the crease. Bernard tipped the puck up high and found its way up and over Auger to give PEI a 1-0 lead.

Saint John went to the power play at 5:49 and had some good pressure on. Their best chance came when the puck went to Stephen Anderson at the top of the crease but he couldn’t beat Maxime Lagace.

PEI and Saint John exchanged power play opportunities in the remaining part of the first frame but neither team could get much going.

Shots were 12-8 in favour of the Rocket in the opening 20 minutes. PEI had the better of the scoring chances.

The Sea Dogs had quite a few chances in the opening minutes of the second period. Danny Chaissson had a break but was stopped by Lagace. Then, Kevin Gagne nailed the post which was followed by Lagace robbing Pierre Durepos at the side of the net.

Finally, at 4:13, Aidan Kelly tied the game. Kelly fought off a PEI defenseman and walked to the outer rim of the faceoff circle. He then sniped the puck past Lagace to make it a 1-1 contest.

At 5:34, Alex Gallant and Grant West squared off a centre ice. It was a great tilt with both players landing some bombs. We’ll call it a draw.

Saint John took the lead at 11:55. After a scramble in the crease, the puck came out to MacAulay he sent a high shot through some traffic and in to make it 2-1 Sea Dogs.

But the Rocket would tie it back up at 16:08. Duffy crept in from the line and wired a shot through a screen and past Auger to tie it at 2-2 after two.

Shots were 13-6 Saint John in the middle frame.

Saint John took a 3-2 lead at 1:11 of the third period. A Roussel point shot found its way past Lagace to put the Sea Dogs back in front.

The rest of the third period was basically the two teams trading power play opportunities. Both team’s power plays were quite bad on Friday night.

With Lagace on the bench, Matej Beran backhanded the puck towards the net. Auger made the original stop but he couldn’t deny Currie who slid the puck in with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock to tie it at 3-3 and send in into overtime.

Shots were 9-4 Saint John in the third period.

Not much happened on overtime. Shots were 6-1.

Gauthier and Bernard both scored in the opening round of the shootout. Then in the second round, Anderson and Beran were stopped. In the third round, Lagace stopped Zack Phillips, setting up Bursey’s heroics.

MISSING IN ACTION: The Sea Dogs were once again without forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco, and Charlie Coyle and defenseman Nathan Beaulieu due to their participation in the World Junior Hockey Championships. Forward Oliver Cooper is also away at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Forwards Ryan Tesink (knee), Stanislav Galiev (wrist), and Devon Oliver-Dares (head) were also out due to injuries.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Moncton to face the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at 4pm.