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| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
After a disappointing 3-1 loss in Game 1 on Thursday, the Sea Dogs rebounded with a fairly solid 4-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic, tying the best-of-five first round playoff series up at 1-1. The series now shifts to Rimouski for the next two games.
Saint John couldn't get much of anything going offensively in Game 1 but had a much better showing Friday. After a bit of a nervous start, the Sea Dogs opened the scoring at 11:43 of the first. They then went to a five-minute power play and generated quite a few quality chances - but couldn't score. Despite the disappointment of not converting on the lengthy man advantage, the Sea Dogs continued to press as the game went along.
The Sea Dogs made it 2-0 in the second period and delivered some strong penalty kills in the frame. In the third, Saint John started to get rolling, scoring twice. The Oceanic scored two goals in the later half of the period to make it interesting but the result was never in doubt.
Connor Trenholm scored a pair of goals for Saint John while singles came from Raivis Ansons and William Dufour. Thomas Couture made several key saves throughout the game, finishing the night with 22 stops.
Mathis Gauthier and Louis Robin scored for Rimouski. Gabriel Robert allowed four goals on 32 shots before being pulled after the fourth goal. Patrik Hamrla made nine saves in relief.
LINEUP
Burns - Lawrence - Dufour
Trenholm - Daoust - Francis
Ansons - MacDonald - Bezeau
Picard - Reynolds - Lessard
Sevigny - Villeneuve
Kuznetsov - Poirier
Drapeau - DesRoches
Couture
Hurtubise
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Noah Patenaude (injury); defensemenVincent Despont (healthy) and Hunter Gartley (healthy); and forwards Jacob Chantler (injury), Nicholas Blagden (healthy) and Nico Laforge (healthy). The team listed seven defensemen in their lineup with Despont the final scratch.
KNEE: Alexandre Lefebvre was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for a knee on Jeremie Poirier at 11:54 of the first period. Poirier had to be helped to the room but would return later in the period. The Sea Dogs had plenty of offensive zone pressure applied and had some great looks - including at least a couple posts - but could not convert. Poirier didn't play much in the second period but was used quite a bit in the third.
INJURY: Another Saint John defenseman was injured in the opening period when Charlie DesRoches took a shot off the helmet late in the frame. DesRoches left the game with some assistance but returned for the start of the second period.
BIG KILL: Rimouski had plenty of power play time to work with in the second period, which included a four-minute advantage when Olivier Picard was given a double-minor for a high stick. The Sea Dogs produced a solid penalty kill though and maintained their 2-0 lead. Rimouski went 0/6 on the power play.
TRENHOLM: Connor Trenholm has gotten his playoff career off to a strong start, scoring twice in this game.
Trenholm AGAIN! 2-0 Sea Dogs. 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/9TrkjsmoV0
— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 6, 2022
NOTES: Yan Kuznetsov returned to the lineup after missing Game 1 with an illness... the Sea Dogs wore their black third jerseys once again... noisemakers were given out and there was a real New Year's Eve vibe happening... Gordie Dywer and the officials had some heated conversations throughout the second half of the first period... even assistant coach Travis Crickard showed some frustration during the five-minute power play, banging the glass behind the bench... an Oceanic stick flew into the crowd during the second period... William Dufour had 10 shots... William Villeneuve, Nathan Drapeau and Cam MacDonald were the only Sea Dogs who didn't record a shot on goal... the attendance wasn't much better than Thursday's franchise low (for a playoff game). Announced attendance Friday was 2,142.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Rimouski for Game 3 of Monday night at 8:30 p.m.
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