RECAP: In The Clutch. Dogs Win 3-2.

FINAL (OT): Saint John 3, Halifax 2

By Tim Lumsden
SN Staff

The Dogs were Nova Scotia bound on Friday evening as Saint John travelled to the Halifax Metro Centre to take on the Mooseheads. This would start off a trying two-game weekend against divisional opponents for Saint John.

The Sea Dogs were joined by call-up Connor Donaghey and their newest acquisition, Jeremy Doucet.

Sebastien Auger returned to net for Saint John while seasoned Moosehead Zachary Fucale stood between the pipes for Halifax.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw a lot of back and forth action with no scoring. It wasn’t until 11:49 when Benjamin Hade took an interference call, that the game saw either team with a man advantage. With Hade skating off, Halifax went on the power play.

Both teams played a disciplined period. With only the Hade penalty, the period was fast moving.

Shots on goal for the first were 10-5 in favour of the Moose. Auger had a strong run that period, making some incredible saves.

SECOND PERIOD

Jakub Izacky started the period off with a penalty just 30 seconds into play. He spent some time in the box for his high sticking penalty.

Darcy Ashley took the first Moose penalty of the night. He headed off for a hooking call at 10:00

Max Lindsay finally put the first point of either team up onto the board at 13:29. Ryan Falkenham took the assist with that goal.

Stephen MacAulay tied it 1-1 at 19:04 as he was finally able to slip one by Fucale. Brown and Tsogkas were awarded the assists.

The period would end with a shots on goal total of 22-9 in favour of the Moose. Total shots on goal after 40 minutes were 32-14 for the Moose.

THIRD PERIOD

The game continued 1-1 until Stefan Fournier inched Halifax ahead as Auger wasn’t quick enough with the glove. That goal came at the six-minute mark.

Oliver Cooper couldn’t have taken his penalty at a worse time. With less than five minutes to go at 15:31 and the Dogs down one goal, it was full throttle time for the Sea Dogs as they attempted to tie the game.

Pierre Durepos used the extra fire power of an empty Saint John net to rocket one through Fucale’s defenses with 59 seconds left. That would tie the game 2-2 with the help from Abbott and MacAulay. That would send the game into extra time.

Shots were 12-7 in favour of the home team in the third.

OVERTIME

Darcy Ashley was sent off for a high sticking penalty when he struck Steven Duda in the face 57 seconds into overtime, sending the American defenseman to the bench and the Sea Dogs to the power play.

At 1:34, Jakub Izacky fired one past the overwhelmed Fucale, bringing the score to 3-2 and giving the Dogs the extra point.

Total shots on goal for the game were 45-24 in favour of Saint John.

Not surprisingly, Sebastien Auger was awarded the first star of the game. Jakub Izacky took number two and Stefan Fournier left with the third star.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs return home to face off against the PEI Rocket on Saturday evening. Puck drops at 7pm.