RECAP: Boom. Dogs Win 5-2.

FINAL: Chicoutimi 2, Saint John 5

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are hitting the road with a 2-0 series lead over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinal playoff series.

Stanislav Galiev scored twice for Saint John while Aidan Kelly, Ryan Tesink, and Jonathan Huberdeau added solo markers. Kevin Gagne had two assists.

Galiev now has three goals and an assist in the first two games of the series. Gagne is also having a strong series, registering five assists.

Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil had another strong performance in the Saint John net, making 27 saves for the win. He’s played big roll for the Sea Dogs so far in this series.

Chicoutimi had goals from Mathieu Gagnon and Christian Ouellet. Christopher Gibson allowed five goals on 32 shots in the loss.

Saint John got off to a quick start thanks to two markers in the first five minutes of the game. The Dogs added another one early in the third which would prove to be the game-winner.

It definitely wasn’t Saint John’s best game of the season but it was good enough to win. The Dogs now head to Chicoutimi with a commanding 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is on Tuesday night.

Kelly opened the scoring at 2:33. He fired a shot from the slot that found its way past Gibson to give Saint John an early 1-0 lead.

The Dogs headed to the power play at 3:29. At 4:46, Danick Gauthier hit Galiev with a hard pass that the Russian couldn’t quite handle. He quickly regained control of it though and slid it through a hole between Gibson’s pad and the post to give the Dogs a 2-0 advantage.

Chicoutimi called a timeout after Saint John’s second goal and it seemed to spark them a bit as they played fairly well as the period went along. The teams exchanged some power play chances but neither could connect. Shots after 20 minutes were 11-11.

Just 41 second into the second, Tesink got a hold of the puck and went in alone. He beat Gibson with a move to his backhand to give Saint John a 3-0 lead.

Chicoutimi got on the board at 9:33. Guillaume Asselin was behind the goal line and centered for Gagnon. He went upstairs on Corbeil with a quick shot to make it a 3-1 contest.

The Sags were given a good opportunity at 13:54 when Ian Saab headed to the box. But it would the Sea Dogs striking during the two-minute span as Charlie Coyle fed an open Huberdeau who slid the puck five-hole on Gibson to regain Saint John’s three-goal lead.

Back at even strength, Maxime Villemaire had a great chance but fired his backhand shot off the glove of Gibson and it stayed out.

Shots in the middle stanza were 12-11 in favour of the Dogs.

On a power play at 5:31 of the third, Ouellet managed to get the disc past Corbeil in close to make it a two-goal game once again. Then a few minutes later, Chicoutimi scored again but it was ruled to have been batted in with a high stick so it was called off.

Galiev put a dagger through the Sags at 15:16. The Washington Capitals prospect fired a bullet top shelf and past Gibson to give the Dogs a 5-2 advantage with just a few minutes left.

Shots in the third were 9-7 Sea Dogs. Saint John went 1-for-6 on the power play while Chicoutimi went 1-for-5.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: Game 3 of the series is on Tuesday night in Chicoutimi.