QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Rocked 6-1 On The Rock

Published on January 6, 2008 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


ST. JOHN'S, NF --- The Saint John Sea Dogs dropped consecutive regulation decisions for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon, falling to the St. John's Fog Devils by a score of 6-1 at Mile One Stadium twenty hours after suffering a 3-2 loss at the same venue.

St. John's dominated the opening forty-two minutes of play on Sunday, amassing a 5-0 lead while out-shooting Saint John 24-18. A third period power play tally by Pascal Amyot allowed the Sea Dogs to avoid being shutout for the first time this season, but the Fog Devils cruised to victory from there, adding a marker late in regulation to produce a five-goal victory and improve their post-Christmas record to 5-1.

Despite dropping two of their three games in St. John's this week, Saint John still leads the season series with their expansion cousins, four wins to three.

The Sea Dogs now return to Port City for a pivotal four-game home stand as they continue to fight for home ice advantage throughout the East Division playoffs. Saint John remains atop the divisional standings despite their unsuccessful weekend, currently leading the second-place Halifax Mooseheads by one point.

The Fog Devils struck first for the third straight game on Sunday, with Matt Fillier finishing off a four-on-two rush with a bullet of a wrist shot that beat starting Sea Dogs net minder Travis Fullerton high and gave the home team a 1-0 lead 3:55 into the first period.

Saint John went on the power play for the first time shortly after Fillier's goal, but the Sea Dogs were unable to capitalize on their early man-up opportunity despite some impressive puck movement in the St. John's zone.

With 5:56 remaining in the opening frame, Phil Mangan put the home team up 2-0 when he beat Fullerton with another high wrist shot at the tail end of another odd-man rush, this time a three-on-two break during a four-on-four session. Mangan's tally, his 11th of the season, proved to be the final goal of the first period, and Sunday's contest reached the twenty minute mark with St. John's holding a two-goal advantage over Saint John.

The Fog Devils continued to apply heavy pressure in Saint John's zone early in the second period, with some impressive goaltending by Fullerton preventing the home team from further adding to their lead.

A full two minute two-man advantage was awarded to St. John's midway through the middle frame when Steven Anthony and Alexandre Leduc received simultaneous minor penalties for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct respectively. The Fog Devils' numerical advantage was cut to one when Alex Wall received two minutes for charging, but the home team was nonetheless able to convert four-on-three, with Jean-Simon Allard setting Maxime Pomerleau up in the slot with a crisp pass from the corner; the 19-year old defenseman made no mistake on his chance, rocketing a wrist shot to the top corner of Saint John's net to give St. John's a 3-0 lead with 8:13 remaining in the second.

St. John's then went up by four when Luke Adam shovelled a rebound to the back of the Sea Dogs net, earning his 20th goal of the season late in the middle frame to send the match into its second intermission with the host squad enjoying a sizeable lead.

The rout continued in the third period, as Jean-Simon Allard hit Nick Layton with a firm cross-ice pass directly in front of the Sea Dogs' goal crease that the New Brunswick native was able to redirect to the back of the net with ease, earning his 13th goal of the year on the power play just 1:20 into regulation's final frame.

The Sea Dogs earned a 1:11 two-man advantage midway through the third when Taylor MacDougall and Samuel Grenache incurred back-to-back minor infractions, but Saint John was again denied by the Fog Devils' PK Unit despite some quality shots being fired upon St. John's goalie Timo Pielmeier.

Saint John finally got on the scoreboard with 4:04 remaining in the third as Pascal Amyot netted his second goal of the season on the power play with Alexandre Leduc and Yann Sauve picking up assists on the successful scoring play.

The five-goal Fog Devils lead was then restored by Luke Adam, who notched a power play marker with 18 seconds remaining in regulation to produce the final 6-1 score.

The Sea Dogs next hit the ice on Wednesday night at Harbour Station. Saint John will play host to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, a team against whom they earned a 9-2 victory at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre on December 28.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2008


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