Tyler Peddle scored on a power play at 4:20 of overtime to give the Sea Dogs a 4-3 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre. The win – Saint John's first since the Christmas break – ended a lengthy losing skid and improved the team to 9-0 in extra time contests.
Olivier Groulx scored all three of Saint John's goals in regulation time. Charles-Edward Gravel made 27 stops in the win.
It was a fairly evenly played game between two of the QMJHL's youngest teams. The point separation between the two has thinned of late, but this victory gives Saint John a bit more breathing room as the second half continues to roll along.
Shawn Carrier, Braeden MacPhee and Owen Phillips all scored for Halifax, who have now dropped seven straight. The newly acquired Jacob Steinman made 37 saves in the loss.
Halifax got on the board early in the first period. After a Nate Tivey turnover, Carrier beat Gravel from the slot at 3:26 to make it 1-0.
The Sea Dogs responded to the goal well, dominating possession for several minutes. Finally, on a power play at 11:50, they were rewarded when Groulx redirected a William Yared shot to tie things at 1-1.
Halifax pulled in front again at 15:35. On a man advantage, a point shot hit some bodies in front and the rebound went to MacPhee who put the puck into an open net.
Saint John evened things up again at 18:50 just after a power play ended. A shot went off the back boards and bounced in front where Groulx was able to sneak the puck between Steinman and the post to make it 2-2 after 20 minutes.
The Sea Dogs were unable to generate many quality scoring chances in the middle frame but only needed one to take a 3-2 lead into intermission. At 19:56, Groulx fired an innocent looking shot from the slot that went past a couple bodies and upstairs on Steinman, giving Saint John their first lead of the game.
Halifax tied the game at 6:09 of the third when Phillips fired a high shot from the point that beat a screened Gravel. Halifax had a couple of other good chances in the third but could not score a fourth goal.
Saint John went to a power play at 2:29 of overtime when Quinn Kennedy tripped up Peddle. On that man advantage, Tivey setup Peddle for a one-timer, ripping a shot past Steinman to give the Sea Dogs a 4-3 victory.
LINEUP
Rozzi - Groulx - Yared
Morin - Krayer - Beveridge
Peddle - Dubé - Cross
Calder - Beaulieu - Wagner
Reynolds
Tivey - Amyot
Bilodeau - Mann
Lumsden
Gravel
Robinson
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defenseman Olivier Duhamel (injury), Matthew MacLean (injury) and Julien Bonnet (healthy).
NOTES: Saint John went with 13 forwards and five defensemen. D-man Julien Bonnet was the team's final scratch... forward Mitchell Wagner, who the Sea Dogs claimed off waivers from the Moncton Wildcats this week, made his Saint John debut... the 20 shots the Sea Dogs had in the first period were the most the team has recorded in any opening frame this season. The previous high was 15... Olivier Groulx registered his first career hat trick.... William Yared and Nicolas Bilodeau each recorded two assists... Saint John is 9-0 in extra time games. Six of those wins have come in overtime... Saint John was having a rough night in the faceoff circle in the first half of the game but improved as the night went along. Faceoffs ended 38-31 in favour of the Mooseheads... Saint John went 2/3 on the power play while Halifax went 1/2... Groulx and Elliot Dubé each had eight shots.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet again tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. at TD Station.
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