RECAP: Stunned. Dogs Lose 4-3.

FINAL: Victoriaville 4, Saint John 3

SAINT JOHN – It was Country Night at Harbour Station on Friday, and if Taylor Swift was a Sea Dogs fan, she could probably write some stupid song about this game.

With 40 seconds remaining in the third period and the game tied 3-3, Philippe Maillet capitalized on a Saint John turnover and scored a beauty to give the Victoriaville Tigres a 4-3 victory over the Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

It was a heartbreaking loss as this game seemed destined for overtime. Despite the Tigres out shooting the Sea Dogs 35-20, it was a fairly even, back-and-forth affair with lots of skating. It was certainly entertaining. But, for Saint John, it just was not meant to be on this night.

Maillet was involved in all four Victoriaville goals, finishing the night with a goal and three assists. Philippe Halley, Michael Rheaume, and Tommy Veilleux also scored for the Tigres. Brandon Whitney only had to make 17 saves for the win.

Saint John had a pair of goals from Maxime Villemaire and a solo marker from Andreas Tsogkas. Sebastien Auger made 31 saves in the loss.

Tough defeat. At least the Dogs won’t have much time to think about with a game in Bathurst tomorrow night.

FIRST PERIOD

Michael Rheaume had the first good scoring chance on a two-on-one but was denied by Sebastien Auger’s pad.

The Sea Dogs headed to the power play at 3:03 as Philippe Halley headed off for slashing. Saint John took advantage of the man advantage as Jakub Izacky, from along the back boards, set up Maxime Villemaire perfectly who made it 1-0 Sea Dogs at 3:33.

Victoriaville went to the power play at 4:48 thanks to an Olivier LeBlanc interference call. The Tigres had some good pressure on but failed to create many scoring chances.

The Tigres tied it up at 9:59. Halley performed a wraparound move and got Auger out of position. Although Halley could not connect on his original attempt, Rheaume was there to bang it in.

Saint John went back to power play at 11:54. Not much happened.

Then Victoriaville went to the man advantage at 14:05. Not much happened.

Andreas Tsogkas put the Sea Dogs back in front at 16:22, scoring on a backhand shot. It was his second goal of the 2012-13 campaign.

The Tigres tied things up at 19:04. A shot from above the circle was stopped by Auger but Tommy Veilleux was parked in front to put the rebound in, making it a 2-2 affair.

Victoriaville was awarded a late power play opportunity as Steven Duda was called for cross checking at 19:25.

Shots in the first were 13-6 in favour of the visitors in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Petr Sidlik headed to the box at 0:37, ending Victoriaville’s power play that carried over into the second period. On Saint John’s man advantage, the Dogs had a few scoring chances but could not connect.

Things started to heat up a bit at 3:29. Philippe Hudon took the original penalty as he checked Steven Duda from behind. But Duda got up and went after Halley, picking up roughing and slashing penalties. Then at 3:39, Halley took an interference call.

At 5:26, Carl Marois headed to the sin bin. When Halley stepped out of the box, he went in a breakaway and just got enough mustard on his shot to get it past Auger, making it 3-2 Victoriaville thanks to the shorthanded marker at 5:45.

But Saint John quickly tied it at 5:57. A Villemaire blast got tied up in Whitney’s pads and the Tigres goaltender put it in his own net to make it a 3-3. That goal came on the power play.

A few moments later, Noah Zilbert sent a shot off the outside of the post from a sharp angle. The pace of the game picked up after that with both teams going back-and-forth.

Late in the frame, Matthew Highmore fed Marcus Cuomo but he couldn’t connect. Even in the final minute, the back-and-forth style of play continued. Good stuff.

Shots were 10-9 in favour of Saint John in the second stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

Jason Cameron headed to the box at 6:15 for tripping. The Tigres had a couple of good chances on the power play but nothing serious.

The Tigres were buzzing with around six minutes left in the period. They hit iron and forced Auger to make some quality stops.

Ian Saab headed to the box at 14:50 following some confusion on the ice over what the call(s) was. But the Tigres once again failed to take advantage of a power play opportunity. Huge kill by the Sea Dogs.

Back at even strength, Villemaire had a great chance in front but sent the disc just wide of the goal.

Then with 40 seconds left, Maillet capitalized on a Saint John turnover. He made some beautiful dangles to get by a couple of Saint John players before ripping a shot past Auger to give Victoriaville a late lead and stun everyone in Saint John.

The Dogs could not regroup from the late goal and dropped the contest, 4-3.

Shots were 13-4 in favour of the Tigres in the final frame.

The Tigres went 0-for-6 on the power play while the Sea Dogs went 2-for-5.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: Saint John travels to Bathurst to take on the Titan tomorrow night at 7pm.