QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Down Foreurs In A Shootout

Published on March 2, 2008 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


VAL-D'OR, QC --- In a preview of a potential first-round playoff series, the Saint John Sea Dogs and Val-d'Or Foreurs met at the Air Creebec Centre on Sunday afternoon with each team in search of a victory and a two-point boost in the standings.

After sixty-five intense minutes of play produced a 2-2 deadlock, a shootout was required to determine a victor in Sunday's contest, with Payton Liske providing the skate-off, victory-clinching tally for Saint John in the decisive third round.

Liske also scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and assisted on Saint John's other marker, which came in the opening frame off the stick of Scott Howes. Meanwhile, Val-d'Or's offence came courtesy of Jonathan Hazen and Maxime Sauve.

Raffaele D'Orso played extremely well in goal for Val-d'Or, making several spectacular stops en route to amassing 38 saves on the afternoon. Veteran Travis Fullerton was equally impressive between the pipes for Saint John, turning aside 28 shots in regulation prior to making eight overtime saves and stopping two of the three shooters he faced in the post-OT breakaway competition.

Saint John is now 38-20-3-3 on the season after earning a hard-fought victory while Val-d'Or falls to 26-30-3-6 with the home loss. The Sea Dogs now trail the Halifax Mooseheads by a single point in the race for first place in the QMJHL East Division standings.

The Sea Dogs dominated the opening half of the first period, registering eight of the game's first twelve shots on goal while forcing D'Orso to make several difficult saves, particularly during an early man-up opportunity which saw multiple glorious scoring opportunities for the visitors thwarted by the Foreurs' All-Star goaltender.

A tremendous individual effort by Jonathan Hazen then gave Val-d'Or a 1-0 lead. Deep in the visitors' zone, the 17-year old forward danced around a Saint John defenseman during a Foreurs power play and beat Fullerton through the five-hole to earn his 20th goal of the season at the twelve minute mark of the match.

Saint John then pulled even with a power play marker of their own, as Scott Howes banged in his 38th tally of the year from just outside the Val-d'Or goal crease. Payton Liske and Keven Charland both picked up assists on the successful scoring play, which came at the 18:21 mark of the opening frame.

Fullerton then came up with a huge save on a Maxime Sauve snap shot in the dying seconds of the first to keep things tied 1-1 as Sunday's contest reached the twenty minute mark.

D'Orso continued his strong play into the second period, stoning Keven Charland and Alexandre Picard-Hooper early in the frame to preserve his team's even standing with the Sea Dogs.

At the 10:56 mark of the second, Foreurs defenseman William Beaudoin was assessed a two-minute minor for holding after hauling down Payton Liske in the home team's zone. The Sea Dogs were unable to capitalize on their fourth power play of the afternoon however, applying intense pressure upon D'Orso and the Val-d'Or penalty killing unit for 120 seconds but ultimately coming up empty on their attempts to gain their first lead of the game.

Both sides registered strong scoring chances throughout the duration of the middle frame, but the goaltending duel continued in the Valley of Gold, with Fullerton stopping all seven shots fired upon him during the period while D'Orso made ten saves on as many shots faced.

Early in the third period, the Foreurs took a 2-1 lead on the strength of an impressive tally off the stick of Maxime Sauve, his 24th of 2007-08; the 18-year old centre beat Fullerton with a well-placed shot on a semi-breakaway after out-manoeuvring a pair of Saint John defenders in the Sea Dogs' zone.

Ryan Sparling came extremely close to producing the equalizer a moment later, getting off a shot from five feet out on a feed from Chris DiDomenico on the fly; D'Orso made a sensational, diving stick save on the play however, keeping his team's one-goal lead in tact in the process.

With 6:23 remaining in regulation, Payton Liske tied things up 2-2, beating D'Orso down low on the short side to register his 17th goal of the season at a highly opportune time.

Some frantic end-to-end action took place throughout the final minutes of the third, with neither team managing to net the go-ahead goal as Sunday's inter-divisional showdown reached the end of regulation with the score knotted at two apiece.

After a highly exhilarating five minutes of overtime failed to produce a sudden-death marker at either end of the ice, a shootout was required to determine which team would pick up an extra point in the

In the breakaway contest, both teams struck in the second round after coming up empty in the opener. Travis Fullerton then thwarted Marc-Andre Cote's attempt with a poke check, and Payton Liske converted on his chance to clinch a dramatic, come-from-behind victory for Port City's major junior squad.

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Tuesday night game versus the Lewiston MAINEiacs at Androscoggin Bank Coliseum. Saint John's next home game is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 12 against the PEI Rocket.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2008


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