FINAL: Halifax 0, Saint John 7
By Lorne Webster | SN Staff
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea
Dogs (3-1-0-1) gave their faithful fans plenty to be excited about Saturday
evening at Harbour Station with a most convincing 7-0 victory over the Halifax
Mooseheads (2-3-1-0). Thomas Chabot and newcomer Justice Dundas led the way
with two goals each. Imports Juraj Siska and Jakub Zboril each
scored their first QMJHL goals while Mitchell Dempsey, with his third goal on
the season, rounded out the scoring. Sebastien Auger turned aside 30 Halifax
shots to earn the shutout.
The Sea Dogs ran into penalty trouble
early in the first period but their outstanding penalty kill units managed to
keep Halifax off the board, including a 48 second two-man advantage. Just past
the six-minute mark, Thomas Chabot took a cross ice feed from Mathieu Joseph
and blasted a slap shot that somehow made its way through Zach Fucale's equipment
to open the scoring. With a little over two minutes left in the first period,
the line of Mark Tremaine, Braydon Blight and Dundas completely outworked the
Mooseheads. Dundas found himself all alone in front to snap a shot over
Fucale's shoulder to stretch the lead to 2-0 after one. Shots favoured Saint
John 16-11.
Saint John came out strong again in the
second period and pretty much dominated Halifax in every aspect. At 6:35 of the
second, Chabot's point shot pin balled off a few players and found its way past
Fucale to make it 3-0. Later in the period, less than two minutes apart, Siska
(with a roof job over a stickless Fucale's shoulder) and Zboril (with a bullet
from the point through traffic on the power play) racked up their first 'Q'
league goals to extend the Saint John lead to 5-0. Shots were 18-7 for the Sea
Dogs.
Early in the third, Philippe Gadoury was
awarded a penalty shot but Sebastien Auger flashed his catching glove to rob
him of a goal. Just before the 5:00 mark, Jack vanBoekel caught Vincent Watt
with a huge open ice hit that sent the young Moosehead flying. A massive scrum
resulted in a number of penalties as Watt was helped to the dressing room. Less
than a minute later, Dundas scooped up a loose puck in the Sea Dogs' zone,
streaked down the right wing and snapped a shot just over Fucale's pad to make
it 6-0... and end Fucale's night in goal. Once Kevin Resop took over in the
Halifax net, a few Mooseheads took it upon themselves to try to avenge Watt's
injury. First, Danny Moynihan had a vicious check from behind on Matt
Highmore. That hit sent the Sea Dogs assistant captain to see the team doctor. Later,
Austyn Hardie's head shot on Mathieu Joseph earned him a dance invitation from vanBoekel.
And, about four minutes later, Brandon Vuic made his attempt at putting Joseph
through the boards with another vicious hit from behind. It will be
interesting to see if the league takes any action on these plays. With just
under 3:00 to go in the game, Mark Tremaine outworked the Halifax 'D' and fed a
lovely pass to Dempsey for a tap in to set the final score. Shots were
even at 12 per side but the final shot clock read 46-30 for SJ.
