RECAP: The Lights Dim. Dogs Win 5-2.

FINAL: Saint John 5, Baie-Comeau 2


BAIE-COMEAU, Que. – There was no six-goal lead. There was no second period explosion. There were no power play goals. Instead, the Saint John Sea Dogs battled through a close game to take a 3-0 series lead over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Tuesday night.

Saint John scored three times in the third period and went on to defeat the Drakkar 5-2 in Game 3 of their quarter-final playoff series. The Sea Dogs are now a win away from advancing to the President’s Cup semi-finals for a third straight year.

The Sea Dogs had goals from Stanislav Galiev, Tomas Jurco, Ryan Tesink, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Stephen MacAulay. Huberdeau added two assists.

Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil had a strong game, making 29 saves for the win. He made a few great stops when the Dogs had a 3-2 lead in the third.

Baie-Comeau had markers from Jonathan Lessard and David Rose. Philippe Cadorette allowed four goals on 37 shots and was somehow named first star.

The Drakkar certainly gave the Dogs a run tonight. Baie-Comeau led at one point in the second period but Jurco quickly tied it before the period ended. They looked a lot better on Tuesday night than they did over the weekend at Harbour Station.

It wasn’t the greatest of games for Saint John. Unlike in the first two, they didn’t play that well in the second period and they struggled on the power play. But a win is a win in the playoffs, and the Sea Dogs are now a win away from moving on.

Game 4 of the series is tomorrow night at 8:30pm.

FIRST PERIOD

Things got wild right out of the gate as some fan threw what appeared to be a crab on the ice. What a moment.

Saint John opened the scoring at 4:21. Zack Phillips intercepted a pass and the fed a wide open Stanislav Galiev. The Russian had a yawning cage to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead.

David Rose had a chance moments later for Baie-Comeau but Mathieu Corbeil shut the door. Just before the halfway mark, the Dogs had all kinds of pressure but just were not able to score.

The Drakkar headed to the power play at 11:41 but that quickly ended at 12:27 as Tomas Filippi headed off. Just before the four-on-four ended, Kevin Gagne had a great chance but was denied in close by Philippe Cadorette.

The teams exchanged abbreviated power plays later on but nothing happened.

Some rough stuff broke out after the horn and Ian Saab and Maxim Lamarche were both given penalties.

Shots were 17-8 Saint John in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Baie-Comeay had an early power play but couldn’t connect. Corbeil made a big time pad save.

The Drakkar tied it up at 4:11 as Jonathan Lessard went around Jason Seed and beat Corbeil five-hole to make it a 1-1 contest. Saint John then went to the power play on the same play as the goal. Charles Roussel had a great chance as he cut through the crease but just couldn’t get a great shot off.

The Sea Dogs went back to the man advantage a few minutes later but couldn’t get anything going.

Then the Drakkar started to take things over. They had back-to-back power plays and although they didn’t score you could feel the momentum swinging to then home side.

Soon after their second power play ended, David Rose had a long breakaway but sent and high and over the goal.

Then at 18:11, Rose redeemed himself as he fired home his fifth of the post-season from inside the line to put Baie-Comeau in front 2-1. Oh baby. Saint John’s defense was snoozing a bit in this period.

But just 44 seconds later at the other end, Tomas Jurco banked the puck off Cadorette and in to tie things up at 2-2 heading to intermission.

Shots were 15-11 in favour of the Drakkar in the frame.

THIRD PERIOD

Early on in the frame, Galiev had a breakaway but shot it just wide.

Moments later at 2:31, Ryan Tesink snapped the puck just under the bar and past the glove of Cadorette to give Saint John a 3-2 advantage.

Soon after that, the lights dimmed. The teams were sent to their dressing rooms for about 10 minutes as they fixed the issue. Embarrassing moment for Baie-Comeau.

A few minutes after the action resumed, Galiev had a partial break but could reach for the puck with just one hand as it slid past his blade. Moments later, Corbeil made a huge pad save on Lessard to keep the Sea Dogs in front.

Just as the Drakkar were starting to mount some pressure, the Dogs came right back with their own chances. Cadorette robbed Nathan Beaulieu and snagged a Gagne shot with the glove.

Finally at 17:14, Jonathan Huberdeau was able to jam the puck in to give the Dogs a much needed insurance goal. That made it a 4-2 game.

Before the Drakkar could even get things organized, Stephen MacAulay scored an empty-netter at 18:34 to give Saint John a 5-2 lead and a 5-2 win.

Shots in the third stanza were 10-8 Saint John.

The Dogs went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Drakkar went 0-for-5.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Drakkar meet tomorrow night at 8:30pm for Game 4.