Saturday, February 2, 2013

RECAP: Homeward Bound. Dogs Lose 3-2.

FINAL: Saint John 2, Shawinigan 3 (OT)

The Saint John Sea Dogs salvaged a point in the final game of their three-game road trip.

Playing at Centre Bionest for the first time since the 2012 Memorial Cup semi-final game, the Sea Dogs fell 3-2 to the Shawinigan Cataractes in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday.

This was the final game of a three-game Quebec road trip for Saint John. They’ll head home with one point thanks to today’s OT loss. The Sea Dogs have now lost six straight.

Spencer Smallman scored his first QMJHL goal today. Noah Zilbert scored Saint John’s other goal. Sebastien Auger made 42 saves in the loss.

Shawinigan had goals from Alexandre Delisle-Houde, Peter Sakaris, and Frank Schumacher. Marvin Cupper made 34 saves for the win.

FIRST PERIOD
Shawinigan headed to the power play just 33 seconds in. Nothing happened.

A few minutes later, Andreas Tsogkas sent the puck on net. It was loose in the crease but Jason Cameron was unable to shoot it past Marvin Cupper. On the next shift at the other end, Sebastien Auger made a big glove save.

At 5:38, Alexandre Delisle-Houde showed off some skill in front and deked out Auger to score his first QMJHL goal. That made it 1-0 for the home side.

The Cataractes were buzzing after the goal and created a few good scoring chances but were unable to add to their lead.

The two teams then went back-and-forth for a bit. Mackenzie Brown took a big hit along the boards from JC Campagna.

Some rough stuff at 18:49 setup some four-on-four play for the rest of the period. Frederick Gaudreau had a great chance late in the frame but couldn’t get it to go.

Shots were 14-12 Saint John in the first.

SECOND PERIOD
A few minutes in, Auger made another big glove save, this time off of Antoine Masson.

4:41 into the period, a Mackenzie Brown hit broke a piece of glass along the boards. Both teams headed to the dressing room. There was about a 20-30 minute delay before play resumed again.

Tsogkas tried to breakaway shortly after play resumed but could not get a shot off and slid into Cupper.

Saint John headed to the power play at 6:32. At 7:40, Spencer Smallman ripped the puck up and past Cupper to tie things at 1-1. It was Smallman’s first QMJHL goal.

A few minutes after the goal, the Sea Dogs had the puck in the Shawinigan zone and applied some pressure but could not take the lead. Then at the other end, Auger made a big save on Gaudreau. Alexis D’Aoust then chipped a shot on net but Auger kept that out as well.

Dylan Labbe and Oliver Cooper suddenly dropped the gloves at 17:35 for a short tilt.

Shortly after the fight, Stephen Anderson had a partial break but could not connect.

Disaster struck at 18:46 as Peter Sakaris scored to put Shawinigan back in front by score of 2-1.

Shots in the second stanza were 18-10 in favour of the Cataractes.

THIRD PERIOD
The Dogs headed to the power play at 1:24 as Simon Boudreau headed off for hooking. Noah Zilbert made a move to his backhand and beat Cupper at 2:41 to tie things up at 2-2.

Shawinigan headed to the man advantage at 6:13 as David Weckworth headed off for holding. Then at 7:16 Peter Sakaris headed off for getting his stick up on Maxime Villemaire, creating some four-on-four action. Saint John couldn’t get much going when their power play kicked in.

After Auger made a save through some traffic, rough stuff broke out in front of the net. Shawinigan got a power play out of the scrum that took place at 11:57. The Cats couldn’t get much going on the man advantage.

Shawinigan headed back to the power play at 16:26. The Cats had a mad scramble in the crease near the end of the power play but could not beat Auger.

Shots were 12-12 in the third.

OVERTIME
The awesomely named Frank Schumacher scored the game-winner at 2:43 of the extra frame, ending this game 14 minutes before it hit the three hour mark. Final score was 3-2 Shawinigan.

Shots were 3-0 Cataractes in OT.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket on Thursday night at Harbour Station.

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