RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 7-3

FINAL: Saint John 7, Charlottetown 3

Lorne Webster | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs (30-21-3-6) managed to open the floodgates in the second period and earn a convincing 7-3 victory over the visiting Charlottetown Islanders (28-26-1-3) Friday evening at Harbour Station.

The win was important for the Sea Dogs in their quest to earn home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It could prove to be a turning point as the Sea Dogs look to find the mojo they had during the first half of the season - especially in light of the five close losses in eight games against the Islanders thus far this season.

Dan Del Paggio, Mark Tremaine, Mathieu Joseph, Adam Marsh, Spencer Smallman, Justice Dundas and Thomas Chabot scored for the Sea Dogs. Ross Johnston tallied two goals and Oliver Cooper added one for Charlottetown.  

A fairly open first period didn't produce any goals. The period was highlighted by a fight between Dundas and Johnston after the Islander cross checked Jakub Zboril into the end boards. Charlottetown led 13-7 on the shot clock in the first period.

The Sea Dogs came out flying to start the second period. At 6:41, Del Paggio swatted the rebound of a Joseph shot past Mason MacDonald to break the ice. Under two minutes later, Tremaine took Nathan Noel's clean face-off win and fired a bullet over MacDonald's blocker to extend Saint John's lead to 2-0. Less than a minute later, Kameron Keilly carried the puck into the Sea Dogs' zone, cut to the high slot and sent a hard pass to Johnston who tipped it past Sebastien Auger at the edge of the crease to make it 2-1. 

An apparent goal by Noel at 12:28 was disallowed when the video judge determined that the Sea Dogs were offside well before the goal. Joseph did in fact make it 3-1 when he came out of the penalty box and one-timed a pass from Tremaine past MacDonald at 14:45. Less than two minutes later, Marsh collected the puck after a mad goal mouth scramble and snapped it past MacDonald to extend the lead to 4-1. Smallman capped the second period onslaught with 14 seconds left when he blasted a slap shot through MacDonald's legs after a lovely cross ice feed from Noel to make it 5-1. Saint John fired 22 shots on net versus eight for the Islanders in the second period.

Darryl MacCullum relieved MacDonald to start the third period.  The Sea Dogs continued their strong play to start the third period and, on a power play at 4:55, Dundas tipped a back-door pass from Noel past MacCullum to extend Saint John's lead to 6-1. On a power play at 6:58, Cooper banged in a rebound to make it 6-2. A few seconds after that goal, Cooper suffered a TKO at the hands of Boko Imama. 

On another power play at 10:16, Johnston tipped a point shot past Auger to bring Charlottetown back to 6-3. The power play onslaught continued when Chabot took a cross ice feed from Jason Bell and his booming slap shot found the top corner to make it 7-3. Noel chipped in with his fourth assist of the game on Chabot's goal. Saint John outshot Charlottetown 12-7 in the third to end the game up 41-28 overall.

TURNING POINT/BIG MOMENT

Mathieu Joseph's goal, on the heels of a penalty kill - which was seconds after a disallowed goal - put the Sea Dogs on the path to a solid win. 

SN PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Nathan Noel created havoc all night long and his four assists led the Sea Dogs to the win. Oliver Cooper continued his strong play against his former team with a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" (one goal, one assist and a fight).

TWEET OF THE NIGHT

Not Saint John Sea Dogs related. Don’t care.

@BenMehicNBA The Sea Dogs are back. pic.twitter.com/MplJTBEUTK
— Kevin Hine (@Kevin_Hine) February 28, 2015

STATS

NOTES 

• Adam Marsh returned to the line-up after missing three games with an upper body injury. Boko Imama also returned to the line-up after serving a four-game suspension. As a result, Matt Green and Braydon Blight were healthy scratches.   

• Forward Mitch Dempsey (day-to-day, lower body injury) and defenceman Jack vanBoekel (mono) were unavailable again. 

• Captain Mark Tremaine had a goal and an assist for a second straight game.

• Islanders goaltender Mason McDonald was pulled after allowing five goals on 29 shots. He made 50 saves in a win over Saint John last week.

• Nathan Noel, who had four assists in this game, is on a five-game point streak. His four assists in one game is a career high.

• With an assist, Julien Tessier registered his first point since Dec. 29.

• There was a loud cheer in the building when the Wildcats-Olympiques score was announced. Gatineau won the game 7-3.

• Before the game, on The Tim Roszell Show at Harbour Station, the Sea Dogs Foundation confirmed that an alumni game will be held this August at Harbour Station. It sounds like the game will be played on Saturday, Aug. 8 in the afternoon. Training camp will open that Tuesday and there will be some big time open water swim race the following weekend.

• The video review of offside plays following goals has cost the Sea Dogs two goals in the past two weeks. Charlottetown suffered the same fate earlier in the season. Many fans are questioning this rule and some wonder if reviews should only be for disputed goals - and plays such as offside calls should only be considered following a coach's challenge.

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Gatineau Olympiques tomorrow (Saturday) at 7 p.m.