POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 3, Rocket 6

A collection of recaps from yesterday’s 6-3 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the PEI Rocket…

Our recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs headed to Prince Edward Island to face off against the PEI Rocket on Sunday afternoon.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). The P.E.I. Rocket’s top line was a wrecking ball in a 6-3 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The Guardian’s recap. The P.E.I. Rocket's top line was a wrecking ball in a 6-3 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Sunday in Charlottetown.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Josh Currie scored twice and setup four more as the P.E.I. Rocket doubled up the visiting Saint John Sea Dogs 6-3 on Sunday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs fell to the Prince Edward Island Rocket 6-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Sunday afternoon.

PEIRocket.com’s recap. It was a special night for P.E.I. Rocket forward Ben Duffy in a 6-3 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs Sunday afternoon.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Benjamin Hade (upper body), Jason Seed (MHL Summerside), Jonathan Huberdeau (Team Canada/suspension), Michael Mastrangelo (upper body), Andreas Tsogkas (healthy,) Jurij Repe (Slovenian junior team), and Marcus Cuomo (healthy) on Sunday afternoon.

RECAP: Doubled Up. Dogs Lose 6-3.

FINAL: Saint John 3, PEI 6

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

The Saint John Sea Dogs headed to Prince Edward Island to face off against the PEI Rocket on Sunday afternoon.

Alex Fournier started in net for Saint John while Antione Bibeau took the net for PEI.

FIRST PERIOD

Justin Dickinson and Patrick McGrath got into a scuffle at centre ice early on. Both players were sent off for fighting at 3:17.

Ryan Tesink decided to take on Josh Currie a few minutes after the first tilt. A flurry of blows later and they both headed off to the box at 7:39.

Moments later, Oliver Cooper and Jimmy Oligny followed Tesink’s lead. They battled it out and are both were sent off at 7:45 for fighting.

Ben Duffy just slipped one past Fournier, his 22nd of the year, at 15:50. This put the Rocket up on the board, 1-0.

Late in the frame, Currie took a shot but it wasn’t enough. It came to a stop just behind Fournier, but Ben Duffy swooped in and tapped it in at 19:49. That made it 2-0 PEI.

Shots were 11-4 Rocket in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Cameron sacrificed himself for Fournier and took a hooking call to prevent a goal 1:02.

Mark Trickett sent the Sea Dogs on to their first power play as he headed off for slashing at 6:42. Saint John failed to get on the board, though.

Provencher scored the third PEI goal at 12:36, expanding their lead 3-0

Responding to the goal, Stephen Anderson rocketed one past Bibeau at 13:21, putting the Dogs on the board. That would close the gap slightly and bring it to 3-1 in favour of the Rocket.

Once again, in the final minute of the period, PEI scored. Alex Micallef scored the fourth PEI goal of the game at 19:25.

That would end the period 4-1 in favour of the Rocket. Shots in the second were 20-8 PEI.

GAMEDAY 33 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Today at 3:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @SeaDogsLive

Charlottetown Civic Centre – Charlottetown, PEI

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – Coming off a thrilling comeback win on Friday night, the Saint John Sea Dogs will look to carry that momentum into today’s game on Prince Edward Island.

Down 3-2 late on Friday in Moncton, the Sea Dogs tied it up with six seconds left the send the match into overtime. Kevin Gagne then scored in OT, giving Saint John the extra point and their second straight win. Now, the Dogs will look to make it three straight today in Charlottetown against the PEI Rocket. Game time is 3pm.

Saint John enters play this afternoon with a 16-16-0-0 record for 32 points. They sit fourth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 12^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 games.

One of the more impressive things about Friday’s comeback was that they did without their best player – captain Jonathan Huberdeau. The Florida Panthers prospect, who is currently away with Team Canada, leads the team in scoring with 45 points in 30 games. Ryan Tesink is second on the team in scoring with 37 points.

Meanwhile, the Rocket enter play today with a record of 18-13-2-0. They sit third in the Maritimes Division and eighth overall in the league. They are six points ahead of Saint John and have played one more game.

PEI has the two top scorers in the league on their team. Josh Currie and Ben Duffy each have 55 points which is the most in the ‘Q.’ Currie leads the team in goals with 28 while Duffy has a team high 34 assists.

This is the final road game of the first half for the Sea Dogs. They play two home games next week before the Christmas break begins.

Leave The Talent At The World Juniors

By Andrew McGilligan

SN Staff

Gary Bettman was right.

Now there’s a line most hockey fans will never utter. However, I agree with the commissioner when he said, a few weeks ago, that the two sides in the NHL lockout should take a break from the bargaining table.

Bettman suggested a two-week leave from negotiations. Sounds good, do it now and make it last until Jan. 6, 2013.

Why Jan. 6?

It’s the day after the gold medal game of the World Junior tournament in Ufa, Russia.

If the NHL wants to make fans happy this holiday season, then reaching an agreement after the tournament concludes, allowing all players to represent their country and not be yanked out for NHL training camps is the way to go.

Fans have been without NHL hockey this season; many are frustrated by yet another work stoppage. Taking away the top talent available for arguably the most exciting and anticipated tournament of the year would be a slap in the face.

It would effectively be the NHL saying we’re not ready to play, but we don’t want you to watch the best hockey possible while we’re frittering away more games.

Several NHL general managers, including Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs, have committed to leaving their players at the tournament regardless of a potential deal in the lockout.

Burke and some of his brethren recognize the benefit the World Juniors provide for young players and want them to gain that experience.

Yes, the lockout has gone on long enough, but what’s a few more weeks. It’s not like fans are chomping at the bit for training camp practices and preseason games.

Hockey fans want to watch the best hockey possible. The Word Junior offers fans the chance to watch players compete for country, perhaps the purest form of the sport.

In the end, Bettman was right; a vacation from negotiations is the right idea. However, like most things the commissioner has done, his timing was all wrong.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 4, Wildcats 3 (OT)

A collection of recaps from last night’s 4-3 Saint John Sea Dogs overtime win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. Many times over the past few seasons the Saint John Sea Dogs have won games in stunning fashion. Tonight was one of those nights.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). This has turned into an extremely one-sided rivalry.

The Times & Transcript’s recap (paywall). Did that really just happen?

The Canadian Press’ recap. Kevin Gagne scored 3:08 into overtime as the Saint John Sea Dogs came from behind to beat the host Moncton Wildcats 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs visited the Moncton Wildcats and took a 4-3 win in comeback fashion in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday night.

Moncton-Wildcats.com’s recap. The Saint John Seadogs comeback in overtime to edge the Moncton Wildcats 4-3 Friday night at the Coliseum.

SCRATCHES: Benjamin Hade (upper body), Jason Seed (MHL Summerside), Jonathan Huberdeau (Team Canada/suspension), Devon Oliver-Dares (personal reasons), Mackenzie Brown (knee), Michael Mastrangelo (upper body), Andreas Tsogkas (healthy,) and Jurij Repe (Slovenian junior team) did not play for Saint John.

According to News 88.9, Brown took warm up but did not play.

RECAP: That Just Happened. Dogs Win 4-3.

FINAL: Saint John 4, Moncton 3 (OT)

MONCTON – Many times over the past few seasons the Saint John Sea Dogs have won games in stunning fashion. Tonight was one of those nights.

Down 3-0 to the Moncton Wildcats early in the second period, the Sea Dogs scored twice to head into the third down a goal. With Moncton on a power play and Sebastien Auger on the bench, Jakub Izacky beat the odds and scored with six seconds remaining to send to game into overtime. Kevin Gagne netted the OT winner at 3:08 of the extra frame to give the Dogs a huge comeback win over their rivals.

Saint John is now back at .500 with a 16-16-0-0 record. They also improved to 3-0 against Moncton this season.

Izacky scored twice in the win while Stephen MacAulay and Gagne added singles. Ryan Tesink had three assists and Pierre Durepos added two. Sebastien Auger was solid as usual, making 31 saves for the win. It was a team effort and that’s what will be needed in the post-Huberdeau era.

Ross Johnston, Ryan Penny, and Alex Saulnier scored for the Wildcats. Alex Dubeau made 24 saves in the loss.

The Sea Dogs end the road portion of their first half schedule on Sunday afternoon in Charlottetown. Surely Saint John will be able to carry some of this momentum over to that game.