RECAP: Sea Dogs win 4-1

FINAL: Val-d'Or 1, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs had an easier time beating Etienne Montpetit on Saturday - but not much.

The Val-d'Or Foreurs goaltender was sensational again, making 50 saves in what ended up being a 4-1 Sea Dogs victory at Harbour Station. Like Friday the game remained close throughout, but instead of overtime on this night, the Sea Dogs got a key two-goal lead midway through the third, guiding them to the Game 2 win.

The victory gives Saint John a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series. The next three games (if all are needed) will be played in Val-d'Or.

Cedric Pare, Julien Gauthier, Spencer Smallman and Mathieu Joseph all scored for the Dogs. It was another dominating night on offence and possession with Saint John outshooting Val-d'Or 54-18 - but Montpetit once again kept it close.

Callum Booth, although not tested much, was excellent when called upon, making 17 stops.

Simon Lafrance scored the Foreurs' lone goal.

To the notes...

• After peppering the Foreurs with shots in the first few minutes, Pare finally beat Montpetit at 4:55 to give the Sea Dogs a 1-0 advantage.
• The Foreurs' first shot of the game came at 14:00, a shot that that came from behind the Val-d'Or goal line. On a power play soon after, the Foreurs did create a quality scoring chance, their only one of the period.
• Charley Graaskam had Val-d'Or's first shot of the second period near the midway mark, making a great move to get around Thomas Chabot before being stopped by Booth.
• At 10:05, Sean O'Brien fired a shot on net that was stopped by Booth and produced a rebound. The rebound went off Lafrance in front and in, making it a 1-1 game.
• On a power play at 13:31, Joseph was at the goal line and sent a pass to Gauthier who was parked in the slot. Gauthier ripped a shot past Montpetit, giving Saint John a 2-1 lead.
• At 11:43 of the third, the Sea Dogs finally got some breathing room when Smallman made a deke and beat Montpetit while shorthanded. That made it 3-1 Saint John.
• Val-d'Or pulled Montpetit with three minutes left. With 2:40 remaining, Joseph hit the empty net to make it a 4-1 final.
• Pare's goal was his first of the playoffs.
• Gauthier had 13 shots in the game.
• Saint John's power play struggles continued, going 1/6.
• As mentioned on Rogers TV, Saint John scored at even strength, on the power play, on the penalty kill and wrapped things up with an empty net goal.
• Booth has faced less than 20 shots in five straight games.
• Saint John has scored a league high three shorthanded goals this post-season.
• Val-d'Or import Ivan Kozlov, who had 32 points in 53 games during the regular season, did not play.

Playoff Game Day: Game 2 vs Foreurs

After a thrilling overtime win last night, the Saint John Sea Dogs look to go up 2-0 on the Val-d'Or Foreurs in their second round playoff series this evening. Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Series status: The Sea Dogs lead the best-of-seven second round playoff series 1-0.

Last game: Saint John fired 68 shots on goal in a 2-1 overtime win over Val-d'Or in last night's Game 1. Spencer Smallman and Samuel Dove-McFalls scored for Saint John while the Foreurs' lone goal came from Alexis Pepin. Etienne Montpetit made an incredible 66 saves in the loss while Callum Booth made 13 in the win.

2016-17 regular season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-0-0-0 against the Foreurs during the regular season while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Foreurs: Defenceman Jason Bell and goaltender Alex Bishop.

Random stat: The Sea Dogs have outscored opponents 10-1 in third periods this post-season.

A historic night for Sea Dogs shooters

What a game last night. The Saint John Sea Dogs have been victims of great goaltending in the past, but never before like that. Here's a closer look at some of the numbers from last night's 68-shot, 2-1 Sea Dogs overtime win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs.

• The previous high for shots by the Sea Dogs in a playoff game was 64, set during Game 4 of the 2011 President Cup final in Gatineau. The shot total was high in that game because it went to double overtime.
• The team record - regular season and playoffs combined - was also broken on Friday. The previous high was 67, set on Jan. 11, 2011 (but that game didn't have the OT period).
• The league record for shots in a playoff game is 89, set by the Hull Olympiques in 1999. Saint John's total last night places them in a tie for eighth all-time.
• Kyle Ward was the only Sea Dog without a shot on goal last night. Julien Gauthier, Matthew Highmore and Cole Reginato led the way with seven each.
• The 14 shots against were the second fewest the Sea Dogs have ever faced in a playoff game. The team record is 12, set in this year's opening round against Rimouski.
• The Sea Dogs gave up just one shot in the third period. Saint John has given up zero shots in a period at least once in their regular season history (Jan. 24, 2010 in Gatineau).
• As brought up during an intermission on Rogers TV, you have to wonder if these kinds of games are putting some rust on Callum Booth. Booth has faced more than 20 shots just once this post-season - and that was in Game 1 of the first round. He did make some key saves last night, though.
• Saint John's power play connected last night, but still didn't look great at times. They are now 3/21 on the man advantage this post-season.
• As mentioned by Danny Flynn during the Sea Dogs pre-game show on 96.1 NewSong FM, the two teams that were ranked above Saint John in the final CHL Top 10 - Regina at No. 1 and Erie at No. 2 - both lost their series opening games. Owen Sound, ranked fourth, also lost their first game.
• A few tweets:

Shots faced:
Etienne Montpetit on Friday: 68
Callum Booth in all of round one: 70

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) April 8, 2017

Fun fact: Etienne Montpetit also made 57 saves w/ Chateauguay vs Prince Albert in Telus Cup final. That game went 3OT @SJSeaDogs @ForeursVD

— Will MacLaren (@willontheair) April 8, 2017

The 68 shots faced by Etienne Montpetit ties him for 7th all time in @QMJHL History. Andre "Red Light" Racicot saw 68 on March 25, 1988.

— Kris Abbott (@EastlinkKris) April 8, 2017

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 2-1 (OT)

FINAL: Val-d'Or 1, Saint John 2 (OT)

Lorne Webster | SN Staff 

SAINT JOHN – Samuel Dove-McFalls scored at 9:58 of overtime to lead the top ranked Saint John Sea Dogs to a 2-1 win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs at Harbour Station Friday evening.

With the victory, Saint John takes a 1-0 second round series lead over the 14th-ranked visitors. 

Foreurs backstop Etienne Montpetit turned in arguably the best goaltending performance seen in Saint John in many years - quite possibly the most impressive display ever at Harbour Station - with 66 high quality saves. At the other end, Callum Booth was credited with 13 saves - but a few were clutch stops which allowed the Sea Dogs to earn the win.

The Sea Dogs controlled much of the play throughout the night but a series of close calls - including a couple of iron - and the aforementioned goalie clinic put on by Montpetit made for an exciting playoff match. Alexis Pepin staked Val-d'Or to a 1-0 lead after two periods. And Spencer Smallman's third period power play marker tied the contest for Saint John.

NOTES

• Pepin opened the scoring at 3:25 of the second period when a turnover in the Sea Dogs zone ended up in the slot and the Foreurs' overager one-timed a snapshot to the top corner just over Booth's trapper.
• Minutes after Pepin's goal, former Foreurs star Julien Gauthier appeared to have an open net but Montpetit extended to make an amazing toe save instead.
• While shorthanded late in the second, Mathieu Joseph had a breakaway but was foiled by Val-d'Or's "little mountain."
• With 3:30 left in the second, Bokondji Imama got a shot past Montpetit but it rang loudly off the far post.
• Gauthier was robbed again in close with about 30 seconds left in the second.
• On a power play at 6:46 of the third - a mere seven seconds after Pepin was called for an attempt to separate Gauthier's head from his body with a violent elbow - Matthew Highmore sent a crisp cross crease pass to a hard charging Smallman, who snapped the puck behind Montpetit.
• On the shift following Smallman's goal, Nathan Noel ripped a shot of the crossbar. The play was later reviewed and deemed to have stayed out.
• The Sea Dogs' penalty kill was back to work late in the third and nearly connected twice for goals. First, Noel was thwarted on a breakaway, and then, Highmore's tip of a Jakub Zboril cross ice pass was stopped.
• With under three minutes remaining in regulation, Imama was the next breakaway victim of the Montpetit Show.
• Val-d'Or did not register a shot on goal in the final frame until Booth was called upon to make a nice close save on a blast form the point with ten seconds left.
• In the opening minute of overtime, both Highmore and Joe Veleno had tips that skinned by the outside of the post behind Montpetit. Then, Booth was called upon to make a huge save off a two-on-one the other way.
• For the winning goal, Dove-McFalls finished off a lovely four-way passing play as he took a cross-ice backhand pass from Noel and knifed the puck just over Montpetit's blocker to seal the win.

Five things to watch for in quarterfinal

Embed from Getty Images

The Saint John Sea Dogs' quarterfinal playoff series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs begins tonight at Harbour Station. Here are some things to watch for in this series.

1. Val-d'Or's momentum
There's no question that the Foreurs are massive underdogs heading into this series. But after pulling off a big upset over the No. 3 seeded Shawinigan Cataractes in the opening round, the Foreurs will no doubt be carrying some confidence into this series. Translating that confidence into victories will be a challenge against a Saint John team that, I believe, anyways, is quite a bit better than the Cataractes. But we'll see!

2. Saint John's power play
Saint John had the QMJHL's best power play for the most of the regular season and was a key part of the team's success. In the first round against Rimouski though, the Sea Dogs' power play scored just two goals on 16 chances, even allowing a shorthanded goal. Saint John has the worst power play ranking of any remaining team. The Oceanic no doubt put a focus on the Sea Dogs' PP, but will the Foreurs be able to contain it as well?

3. Val-d'Or's penalty kill
Speaking of special teams, Val-d'Or had the worst penalty kill in the league during the regular season and have the second worst so far this post-season. However, they've found a plan to improve this - they aren't taking penalties. The Foreurs averaged a league low 7.67 penalty minutes per game in the opening round. If Saint John can get its power play going and get Val-d'Or to take penalties, it could be a short series.

Playoff Game Day: Game 1 vs Foreurs

The Saint John Sea Dogs begin their second round series against the Val-d'Or Foreurs tonight at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Series status: This is the first game of the best-of-seven second round playoff series.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 win in Rimouski on March 29. Saint John goals came from Thomas Chabot, Kyle Ward, Matthew Highmore and Simon Bourque. Callum Booth made 13 saves in the win. The Foreurs are coming off a 5-1 home win over the Shawinigan Cataractes on April 2. Charley Graaskamp scored two goals while singles came from Maxim Mizyurin, Mathieu Nadeau and Alexis Pepin. Etienne Montpetit made 38 saves in the victory.

2016-17 regular season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-0-0-0 against the Foreurs during the regular season while Val-d'Or went 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Foreurs: Defenceman Jason Bell and goaltender Alex Bishop.

Random stat: Saint John had the best power play (29.9%) during the regular season while Val-d'Or had the worst penalty kill (71.1%).