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QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Olympiques Defeat Sea Dogs 5-1

February 28, 2008 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


GATINEAU, QC --- The Saint John Sea Dogs opened their longest road trip of the season with a loss on Thursday night, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Gatineau Olympiques at the Robert Guertin Arena in western Quebec.

The Olympiques scored the first three goals of the game and cruised to victory from there, improving to 39-17-5-2 on the year by virtue of their four-goal win. With the loss, the Sea Dogs are now 37-19-3-3 - good for second place in the QMJHL East. Saint John trails top-ranked Halifax by a single point in the race for divisional supremacy.

Francis Desrosiers, Patrik Prokop, Matthew Pistilli, Paul Byron, and Nicholas Valliere Mayer all scored for the Olympiques on Thursday, while Michael Kirkpatrick tallied the lone marker for the Sea Dogs.

Travis Fullerton suffered the loss in net for Saint John, falling to 21-15 on the season after surrendering three goals in 12:32 of action. At the other end of the ice, Ryan Mior made 23 saves in leading Gatineau to victory. The 20-year old Newfoundlander now has a record of 27-18.

The visitors were awarded the first power play of the game 1:44 into the first period, with Joey Ryan incurring a two-minute minor for hooking. Scott Howes earned the best chance of the man-advantage for Saint John, getting off a solid shot from close range that Mior managed to block with an impressive pad save to keep things tied 0-0 in the early-going.

Matthew Pistilli then gave Gatineau a one-goal lead, jamming in a rebound from the side of the net to earn his 31st marker of the season. Claude Giroux and Steven Delisle both picked up assists on the successful scoring play, which gave the Olympiques a 1-0 advantage at the four minute mark of the game.

Two-and-a-half minutes later the home team doubled their lead when a high wrist shot by import defenseman Patrik Prokop managed to elude a screened Travis Fullerton, giving the 19-year old his fourth goal of the year during Gatineau's first power play session of the night.

Brett Gallant and Travis Stacey then squared of at centre ice near the midway mark of the opening frame, with Saint John's enforcer earning a decisive victory over his Gatineau counterpart on the strength of a flurry of vicious right hooks at the start of the bout.

Shortly after the spirited Gallant-Stacey tilt, the Olympiques went up by three when Nicholas Valliere Mayer cut across the Sea Dogs' goal crease and tucked a backhand shot past a sprawling Fullerton to both improve his 2007-08 goals total to five and prompt a goaltending change for Saint John, as Robert Mayer was installed between the pipes for the visitors following Gatineau's third marker of the contest.

With 2:30 remaining in the first period, Michael Kirkpatrick put Saint John on the scoreboard, firing a snap shot from the slot that beat Mior and gave the 17-year old forward the 14th tally of his rookie campaign as Gatineau's lead was reduced to two.

Just 24 seconds later, the Olympiques restored their three-goal advantage however; Paul Byron pounced on a loose puck following a scramble in front of Mayer and knocked home the fourth goal of the evening for Gatineau. Byron's tally proved to be the final marker of the first period, as Thursday's contest reached the twenty minute mark with the hosts leading by a field goal.

After a gritty, back-and-forth opening three-quarters of the middle frame saw neither team managing to add to their respective goal totals, the Olympiques struck for a fifth time on the evening when Matthew Pistilli and Francis Desrosiers worked an effective give-and-go play in Saint John's zone, with Desrosiers finishing things off with a high wrist shot that Mayer was unable to impede the progress of as the home team took a 5-1 lead into the second intermission.

The Sea Dogs were unable to mount an effective comeback attempt in the third period, firing eight shots at Mior throughout regulation's final frame all of which were all turned aside by the veteran net minder as Gatineau kept Saint John from gaining any discernable momentum throughout a penalty-filled closing twenty minutes of play.

Port City's major junior squad will next face the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Saturday night prior to facing the Val-d'Or Forerus on Sunday afternoon.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2008


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