POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 2, Cataractes 1

A collection of recaps from last night’s 2-1 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Shawinigan Cataractes…

Our recap. There were fights, there were scrums after almost every whistle, there were two controversial hits, there were great saves, and there was a dramatic late game goal that proved to be the winner. This was as intense as it gets for a regular season game in February.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

Le Nouvelliste’s recap. The Sea Dogs picked up a crucial two points on Saturday and didn’t allow the Cataractes to get any.

L’Hebdo du St. Maurice’s recap. After getting belted by Jonathan Racine, it was fitting that Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game winner.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. Mathieu Corbeil made 37 saves in an outstanding performance for the win.

SN Live Blog replay. It was a war out there.

MISSING IN ACTION: According to News 88.9, forward Devon Oliver-Dares is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone. It’s a bad break for Oliver-Dares who just returned from a head injury.

Forward Ryan Tesink also missed the game with what the team is calling a “maintenance day.” It looked as though he may have banged up his surgically repaired knee on Friday night in Drummondville.

Stanislav Galiev was also out with a broken wrist.

STREAK: The win extends Saint John’s winning streak to seven games. They have also won four straight on the road.

Their seven-game streak is currently the longest in the QMJHL. The longest streak this season belongs to the Quebec Remparts who won nine consecutive contests in November.

STANDINGS: Jonathan Huberdeau’s late-game goal was big for two reasons. For one, it gave Saint John two points. For two, it didn’t allow the game to go to overtime, which would have given the losing team a point.

Saint John now has a record of 38-13-0-2 for 78 points in 53 games. The Cataractes have 75 points in 52 games. These two points could be huge come mid-March.

DEFENSEMEN DOWN: In the second period, Charles Roussel headed to the dressing room with what appeared to be a shoulder/arm injury. He would return later in the period and eventually score the game-tying goal.

Not long after Roussel headed off, Brandon Gormley went off for Shawinigan. He appeared to hurt his left leg in front of his own goal and could hardly stand up. He was helped off the ice but would return late in the period. Then late in the contest, Gormley took a skate in the neck area. He was taken to hospital after the game but the cut is not believed to be too serious.

BIG HITS: The QMJHL disciplinary prefect will likely look at a couple of hits from this game. At 8:54 of the third, Jason Cameron nailed Kirill Kabanov and was given a five-minute major and game misconduct. Kabanov left the game and never returned and could have a concussion. The Cataractes failed to convert on the long power play.

Then at 16:33 of the final frame, Jonathan Racine smoked Jonathan Huberdeau at the blue line and was assessed the same penalties that Cameron got. Huberdeau sat on the ice for a few moments but would be okay. It was a good thing he stayed in as he would score the game-winner on that power play with 30 seconds left.

ROUGH STUFF: This was a nasty game with scrums after almost every whistle. There were quite a few hits with the two teams combining for 28. If these two meet in the playoffs, it’s going to be quite a battle.

CORBEIL: This was easily one of, if the best performance Mathieu Corbeil has had since joining the Sea Dogs. He allowed just one goal on 38 shots and made some big time saves at key moments to give Saint John a chance.

These are the games – these one-goal, playoff like contests - that Corbeil has to step up in. He delivered on Saturday.

VS SHAWINIGAN: The Sea Dogs improved to 2-1-0-0 against Shawinigan this season with the victory while the Cataractes fell to 1-1-1-0 against Saint John.

The two meet for a fourth time on Sunday, March 11 at the Bionest Centre.

NOTES: Nathan Beaulieu had two assists… Tomas Jurco had a Sea Dogs high seven shots… Maxime Villemaire had four hits… Maximilien Le Sieur had a strong game, recording a goal, a +1 rating and a team high five shots… Jonathan Racine had three hits… a sellout crowd of 4,167 watched the game… Saint John’s special teams were rolling on Saturday. They went 2-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

RANT: The camera work on the Telus webcast was a complete joke yesterday. We were close to motion sickness by the end of it. Yikes.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs head to Charlottetown to face the PEI Rocket on Saturday at 4pm.