RECAP: Doubled Up. Dogs Lose 6-3.

FINAL: PEI 6, Saint John 3

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN – Saint John returned to Harbour Station on Thursday night to battle it out against the PEI Rocket.

Minding the goal for Saint John was Sebastien Auger, while Maxime Lagace took the guard position for the Rocket.

FIRST PERIOD

Matej Beran started it off for the Rocket at 3:45 with a slashing penalty.

The Dogs' first penalty came at 6:50 as Ian Saab went off for holding.

It was Pierre Durepos who sent the Rocket to the power play with his slashing call at 8:14, giving Jimmy Oligny the opportunity to score just 24 seconds later. The Rocket went up 1-0.

The Dogs kept giving the power plays away as Noah Zilbert took a seat in the box at 11:00 for slashing. Tomas Pavelka seized the moment and fired one by Auger at 11:54 to give the Rocket a 2-0 lead early on.

Anthony Cortese ended the period at 19:10 with a tripping call.

It wasn’t a great opening frame by the Sea Dogs. Shots were 15-7 in favour of the Rocket.

SECOND PERIOD

Erik Robichaud and Victor Provencher each added goals for the Rocket early in the middle stanza. Robichaud scored at 1:30 and Provencher at 3:02, making it 4-0

Frustration began to build and became apparent as Justin Dickinson headed off for cross checking at 3:17. Matej Beran was next to find the box at 3:50 for slashing, followed by Louik Marcotte at 5:31 for the same.

Pierre Durepos was vindicated of his earlier penalty as he scored on a point shot at 5:49 thanks to assists from Villemaire and Izacky. With that, the Dogs trailed 4-1.

Zilbert headed to the box again at 10:13, this time for holding.

Ben Duffy scored the next Rocket goal at 12:14, raising the score 5-1.

Interference was the call for Erik Robichaud at 12:50. He wasn't the only one however as teammate Ryan Graves pulled the same mistake at 17:23.

Shots were 16-12 Saint John in the second.

THIRD PERIOD

Zilbert got his revenge at 8:17 with his goal, assisted by Villemaire and Anderson. This closed the wound slightly at 5-2.

The gap closed 5-3 as Mackenzie Brown scored, assisted by Saab and Tsogkas. Time of the goal was 12:12.

The Dogs needed to keep their sticks on the ice apparently as Ian Saab (12:33) and Steven Duda (15:22) each took hooking penalties.

Ian Saab got involved in some Rocket dramatics as he took a checking from behind penalty as well as a roughing call at 18:04. Ryan Graves took the matching roughing call while Victor Provencher was called out for diving.

Saint John pulled Auger in the final minutes but it wasn’t enough. Josh Currie sealed the deal with an empty net goal at 19:43, ending the game 6-3 for PEI.

Total shots on goal for the game were 43-34 in favour of the visiting Rocket.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst to take on The Titan on Friday. The puck drops at 7:30pm.