QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs down Mooseheads in shootout

Published on February 5, 2010 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


HALIFAX, NS --- The league-leading Saint John Sea Dogs kicked off their February schedule with a gritty road effort versus the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night, erasing a two-goal third period deficit en route to capturing their seventh shootout win of the season by a final score of 5-4.

Nick Petersen (2), Michael Kirkpatrick, and Tomas Jurco scored for Saint John in regulation, with Jurco netting the decisive shootout marker in the second round of the post-overtime penalty shot showdown.

Between the pipes, Karel St-Laurent improved to 15-3 on the season after going a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout. The 19-year old net minder also made 16 saves during regulation and overtime.

At the other end of the ice, Tomas Knotek, Carl Gelinas, Gabriel Desjardins, and Brent Andrews scored for Halifax in a losing effort, while Colorado Avalanche prospect Peter Delmas (31 saves) suffered his 13th defeat of 2009-10 in net for the Mooseheads.

Nick Petersen came close to giving Saint John a 1-0 lead 3:50 into the first period, beating Delmas on a backhander from point blank range. The overage winger's shot rang off the right post however, with the first significant bounce of the game going the Mooseheads' way.

Halifax then struck 0:39 later as Tomas Knotek capitalized on a turnover in Saint John territory in wiring a high wrist shot past St-Laurent's blocker to tally his 19th goal of the year.

The Sea Dogs pulled even on the power play, with Nick Petersen tipping home a Mike Hoffman point shot midway through the opening frame to register the 31st goal of his overage campaign. Saint John came close to producing the go-ahead goal late in the first period, but Delmas managed to come up with a magnificent sliding pad save on a rebound-hunting Stanislav Galiev to keep things all square on the scoreboard as Friday's contest reached the twenty minute mark.

Gabriel Desjardins gave the home team a 2-1 lead 7:43 into period number two, beating St-Laurent through the five hole from the outer fringes of the slot to make the tenth goal of his season of the man-up variety. The visitors then re-tied the match at two apiece at the 15:03 mark of the middle frame, with import winger Tomas Jurco one-timing an Aidan Kelly pass to the back of the Mooseheads' net at the end of an impressive down-ice rush.

Halifax reclaimed a one-goal lead 9:34 into the third period when Carl Gelinas fired an off-balance wrist shot over St-Laurent's right shoulder. The Mooseheads added an insurance marker two minutes later, as rookie forward Brent Andrew wired home a low snap shot to record his fifth career goal.

The Sea Dogs responded almost immediately, as Nick Petersen ripped a wrist shot past Delmas on the fly with 8:07 remaining in regulation to reduce his team's deficit to a single goal. Stanislav Galiev earned an assist on Petersen's second offensive strike of the night, extending his current point streak to eight games in the process.

With St-Laurent on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Saint John produced the equalizer in the sixtieth minute of play when a streaking Simon Després fed a crease-lurking Michael Kirkpatrick a nifty backhand pass. The veteran centre made no mistake on the prime scoring chance, blasting a close-range one-timer past a helpless Delmas to both tally the 70th goal of his major junior career and send Friday's contest into overtime.

Following a goalless extra frame, the intradivisional showdown went to a winner-take-all shootout. Tomas Jurco scored the lone goal of the breakaway contest in the bottom half of round two, while St-Laurent denied all three Halifax shooters he faced in laying claim to his seventh career shootout victory. The sophomore goalie has yet to lose in his career once a game goes beyond sixty-five minutes, while Saint John remains undefeated in shootout games this season.

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Saturday night showdown with the Wildcats at the Moncton Coliseum. The puck drops at 7pm as Saint John looks to pick up two big points at the expense of their archenemies.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2010


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