RECAP: Comeback Kids. Dogs Win 6-5.

FINAL: Rouyn-Noranda 5, Saint John 6 (SO)

SAINT JOHN – What a way to end a losing streak

The Saint John Sea Dogs came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 6-5 in a shootout on Friday night at Harbour Station.

Saint John got into an early whole but climbed all the way back. They never led in the game until the shootout where Jonathan Huberdeau scored the lone goal in the breakaway contest.

Stephen MacAulay recorded a hat trick for Saint John while Devon Oliver-Dares and Oliver Cooper netted singles. Huberdeau and Kevin Gagne each had two assists. Goaltender Sebastien Auger made 27 saves.

Sven Andrighetto had two goals for the Huskies while solo markers came from Dillon Fournier, Jean-Sebastien Dea, and Gabriel Desjardins. Alexandre Belanger made 31 saves in the loss.

The unreal Jean-Sebastien Dea gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the first on the power play. The Huskies made it 2-0 at 6:06 as Gabriel Desjardins scored. Then at 11:12, Rouyn-Noranda made it 3-0 as Dea and Sven Andrighetto put on a nice passing display with Andighetto finishing it off.

Late in the period, the Sea Dogs began to crawl back. At 17:13 on the power play, Devon Oliver-Dares netted his first of the season. Then with 17.5 seconds left, Stephen MacAulay made it a one-goal game heading to intermission as his shot fooled Alexandre Belanger.

Shots were 10-8 in favour of the Dogs in the first.

Someone won a trip to see Justin Bieber in concert during intermission. Very exciting.

Oliver Cooper tied the game up at 10:59 of the second. That would create a buzz of excitement inside Harbour Station.

At 11:22, Ryan Tesink headed to the box for roughing. The Dogs produced a great penalty kill though and even had a few decent scoring opportunities.

The Huskies headed to a five-on-three power play at 18:53 as Jurij Repe headed to the box to join Jason Seed. Rouyn-Noranda applied some good pressure but could not beat the Sea Dogs defense and Sebastien Auger.

Shots were 10-10 in the middle stanza.

The Sea Dogs killed off the rest of the Huskies 5-on-3 power play to open the third. That was cool.

The Huskies retook the lead at 5:47 as Dillon Fournier netted his first of the season. That made it 4-3 Huskies.

Saint John went to the power play at 6:58. One second into the man advantage, Stephen MacAulay scored off the faceoff to tie it again, this time at 4-4.

But the tie was short lived as Rouyn-Noranda made 5-4 at 7:27. Andrighetto scored his second of the match with assists going to his linemates – Gabriel Desjardins and Jean-Sebastien Dea.

At 14:42, Mathieu Brisebois took a five-minute penalty and game misconduct for elbowing, giving the Dogs a great opportunity to tie things up. Ryan Tesink was the victim of the hit but he would be okay.

At 14:56, a Kevin Gagne point shot was tipped by MacAulay to tie the game at 5-5. It would be reviewed but was a good goal.

Saint John had a few other chances to score in the final minutes but couldn’t connect. The game headed to overtime tied at 5-5.

Shots in the third were 12-10 in favour of the home team.

In the first few seconds of overtime, MacAulay hit the post with a shot. That would be the best chance of the extra frame. Shots were 4-4.

In the shootout: 

Huberdeau – goal

Andrighetto – stopped

Gagne – stopped

Dea – stopped

MacAulay – no

Desjardins - not today

Game. Sea Dogs won 6-5 and improved to 5-4-0-0.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs battle the Val-d’Or Foreurs tomorrow night at 7pm at the Station.

Photo: 97.3 The Wave Facebook page