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 Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Edge Islanders on New Year's Eve

December 31, 2015 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


SAINT JOHN - Matt Murphy's power play goal late in the second period turned into the game winner as the Saint John Sea Dogs wrapped up 2015 with a 3-2 win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Thursday at Harbour Station.

Mathieu Joseph and Spencer Smallman also scored for Saint John (22-13-3-0) while Marc-Antoine Turcotte turned aside 36 shots on New Year's Eve. The Sea Dogs have won two games in a row.

Daniel Sprong and Mitchell Balmas countered for Charlottetown (14-20-2-2), which have lost two straight games.

A complete scoring summary is available HERE.

It took only one minute for Joseph to extend his points streak to 12 games.

The 18-year-old winger stole the puck in the Islanders' zone, stepped in front of the net and snapped a low wrist shot that snuck inside the left post, past goalie Guillaume Briere.

Joseph, a Tampa Bay Lightning fourth-round pick in 2015, has 11 goals and 21 points during the streak.

Smallman doubled the advantage four minutes later. The Summerside-born Sea Dog captain took a pass in the middle of the slot, stepped to his right and whipped a wrist shot past Briere's blocker.

But Charlottetown's returning superstar cut his team's deficit in half late in the period.

Sprong, playing just his third game since being sent back to the QMJHL from the Pittsburgh Penguins, grabbed a loose puck on the left wing boards, curled into the slot and sent a wrister through the legs of Turcotte.

The Sea Dogs got the only goal of the second period.

It came on a power play with under four minutes remaining when Murphy ripped a knee-high wrist shot from the middle of the point that beat Briere on his glove side.

Turcotte kept the two-goal lead intact late in the period, stoning ex-Sea Dog Oliver Cooper with a left-leg stop on a clear chance in front of the goal.

The visitors climbed back within one goal six minutes into the third.

Cooper won a puck battle on the left wing boards in the Saint John zone and gave it to Balmas, who rifled a wrister from the left circle past Turcotte's glove.

Charlottetown pulled Briere for an extra skater in the final ninety seconds and turned it into a 6-on-4 advantage in the game's last minute thanks to a Sea Dogs' penalty.

But Turcotte and his teammates held on for the win.

The overage goalie earned the win and a second-star selection with his 36 stops. Briere made 26 saves in the loss.

Joseph's game-opening goal made him first star while Sprong's goal on nine shots gave him third star in front of 4,524 fans in attendance.

The Sea Dogs' next game is Sunday, January 3rd, at 3 p.m. against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at Centre 200. Listen LIVE on 96.1 NewSong FM or newsongfm.ca. Watch LIVE on theqmjhl.ca.

Saint John's next home game is Sunday, January 10th, at 3 p.m. against the Rimouski Oceanic. It's Superhero Day at Harbour Station. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station Box Office, online at harbourstation.ca or by calling 657-1234.


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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2015


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