FINAL: Saint John 2, Moncton 5
By Lorne Webster | SN Staff
MONCTON, NB - The Saint John Sea Dogs
fell to 0-1-1 following a 5-2 loss to the Wildcats (1-1-0) at the Moncton
Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
The young Sea Dogs had first row seats
to the Connor Garland show for the first two periods. Garland and line mate
Chris Lalonde led the way with one goal and two assists each for the
Wildcats. Stephen Johnson (PP), Will Smith (SH) and Adam Holwell also
scored for Moncton.
Nathan Noel and Drew Gross scored
shorthanded goals one minute apart late in the third period to make things interesting. But
a slow start by Saint John, on the heels of a disappointing opening night
shootout loss in Charlottetown, ended up costing the Sea Dogs dearly.
The Wildcats came out strong after a
reportedly bad home opener against Cape Breton on Friday. The ‘Cats controlled
much of the play for the first 10 minutes. And then Alex Dubeau came up
with some big saves in the second half of the first to keep the Dogs off the
board. Shots on goal favored Moncton 12-11 in the first. A goal by Garland
just under five minutes in and a shorthanded goal by Smith on a beautiful feed
from Johnson gave the home team a 2-0 lead.
Moncton pretty much dominated the second
period. Garland served up beautiful passes to Lalonde (under 2:00 minutes
in) and Holwell (just before the 12:00 mark) to extend the ‘Cats lead to 4-0
after two. Shots on goal were 14-4 Moncton.
The third period was back and forth
until the Sea Dogs’ penalty kill scored back-to-back goals to make it
4-2. But Johnson scored a power play goal on a deflection off a Jacob Sweeney
point shot to restore the three-goal lead. The Sea Dogs pushed hard
to score late but were not able to get another puck past Dubeau. The Dogs
out shot the ‘Cats 15-10 in the 3rd.
Will Smith's shorthanded goal late in
the first, followed by Lalonde's marker early in the second, took the wind out
of the Sea Dogs' sails.
S.N. PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Connor Garland and Stephen Johnson may
be on the small side but both were buzzing around the Sea Dogs all day.
Nathan Noel was the best Sea Dog on the
day and was rewarded for his efforts with a beautiful shorthand breakaway
goal.
STATS
NOTES
- The Sea Dogs went with the same lineup as opening night on Friday. Nikita Li, Braydon Blight and Bobby Dugan sat out, while Olivier LeBlanc, Matt Highmore and Mitch Dempsey are still away at NHL camps. Not sure if anything can be read into Li's absence for the second straight game.
- Saint John's penalty kill is off to an amazing start to the season. They did not allow a power play goal until the 15th chance. They now have two shorthand goals for vs one power play goal goal against.
- Alex Kealey and Lane Cormier were ejected in the third for what the ref's felt was a staged fight.
- The twitterverse was buzzing with a report that Moncton will send a 3rd round draft choice to the Armada for Dom Talbot-Tassi once Daniel Walcott returns to Blainville-Boisbriand from New York Rangers camp.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs home opener is this Friday
at 7:30 p.m. against the new-look Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
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