Saint John Earns Their First-Ever Victory in Quebec City
January 22, 2010 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release
QUEBEC CITY, QC --- The league-leading Saint John Sea Dogs earned their first-ever victory at the Pepsi Coliseum on Friday night, skating into Quebec City's premiere entertainment venue and defeating the Quebec Remparts in a shootout by a score of 5-4.
After sixty-five minutes of high-octane major junior hockey produced a 4-4 deadlock, Friday's matched entered a penalty shot showdown from which the visitors emerged victorious on the strength of a perfect three-for-three performance from shootout specialists Mike Hoffman, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Tomas Jurco.
Jurco also scored in regulation for Saint John, as did Stanislav Galiev, Stephen MacAulay, and Christian Morin. Jérôme Côté, Jonathan Aubry-Marchessault, Dmitri Kugryshev, and Marc-Olivier Vallerand, meanwhile, replied for Quebec.
Wearing the uniform number 79 for the first time in his QMJHL career, Marco Cousineau picked up his 14th victory of 2009-10 in net for the Sea Dogs. The overage goalie made 31 saves on 35 shots prior to stopping one of the two shooters he faced in the post-overtime breakaway contest. At the other end of the ice, Antoine Tardif (34 saves, 0-for-3 in the shootout) suffered his 11th loss of the year between the pipes for the Remparts.
Rookie winger Jonathan Huberdeau was called for boarding in the opening minute of play on Friday, forcing the Sea Dogs to kill off an early-match penalty against the #1 power play unit in the Q. Saint John emerged victorious from the first special teams showdown of the evening, keeping the score deadlocked at zeroes in the process. The Sea Dogs would end up going a perfect 3-for-3 on the PK.
Veteran defenseman Christian Morin gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 3:43 mark of the first period, beating Tardif on a long-range wrist shot to register his first goal as a Sea Dog. Steven Anthony and Michael Kirkpatrick both picked up assists on Morin's even-strength marker, with Kirkpatrick extending his team-high point streak to ten games on the play.
Saint John ended up outshooting Quebec 18-8 over the course of the opening frame, with both goalies playing well in the latter stages of the period as Friday's contest reached the twenty minute mark with the Sea Dogs in possession a 1-0 lead.
The Remparts pulled even on the scoreboard early in the second period, as Marc-Olivier Vallerand elected to shoot at the end of an impressive down-ice rush and beat Cousineau from a tough angle on a fast-rising wrist shot.
A crease-hovering Tomas Jurco responded for Saint John at the 6:04 mark of the middle frame, burying a picture-perfect cross-ice feed from second-year blue-liner Nathan Beaulieu to record the 15th goal of his rookie season. Quebec re-tied the match up at two apiece just 36 seconds later however, as Jérôme Côté surprised Cousineau with a snap shot from twenty-odd feet out that managed to elude the Anaheim Ducks prospect on its netward journey.
The Remparts took their first lead of the night when Jonathan Aubry-Marchessault jammed a loose puck across the Sea Dogs' goal line near the midway point of the match. Dmitri Kugryshev then beat Cousineau high, blocker side in transition to put the hosts up 4-2 at the 11:22 mark of the second.
Import forward Stanislav Galiev cut Saint John's deficit in half late in the stanza, one-timing a Mike Hoffman pass by Tardif on his backhand to send Friday's game into its second intermission with the home team clinging to a precarious one-goal advantage.
Sophomore forward Stephen MacAulay tallied the equalizer for the visitors 3:13 into period number three, muscling the puck to the back of Quebec's net from just inside the slot to make his sixth goal of the year of the clutch variety.
Neither team managed to add to their respective scoring totals over the course of regulation's closing 16:47, necessitating overtime in the intense battle between division leaders. Both teams registered decent scoring chances in a highly-entertaining extra frame, with Cousineau and Tardif standing their ground in sending Friday's contest to a winner-take-all breakaway contest.
The super-talented threesome of Hoffman, Jurco, and Huberdeau put on a clinic in awesomeology during the shootout, with all three offensive specialists netting highlight-reel-calibre tallies in delivering the Sea Dogs a hard-fought, come-from-behind road win. Quebec's Dmitri Kugryshev was successful on his attempt, while Martin Lefebvre was denied by Cousineau.
Up next for the Port City's major junior squad is a Saturday afternoon tilt with the Montreal Juniors at Verdun Auditorium. The puck drops at 5:05pm as the Sea Dogs look to pick up two points at the expense of their expansion cousins.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2010
- Cats down Tigres 6-2 - Moncton Wildcats
- Montreal soars past Val-d'Or 5 to 1 - Montreal Juniors
- Saint John Earns Their First-Ever Victory in Quebec City - Saint John Sea Dogs
- Wildcats Announce Schedule Changes - Moncton Wildcats
- Mooseheads' Peter Delmas Named CHL Goaltender Of The Week - QMJHL
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