Saint John Reaches 50 Wins & 100 Points for the First Time in Franchise History
Published on February 26, 2010 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release
VAL-D'OR, QC --- The Saint John Sea Dogs reached a pair of impressive single-season milestones on Friday night, hitting both the 50-win and 100-point plateaus for the first time in franchise history upon earning a 9-3 victory over the Val-d'Or Foreurs at the Air Creebec Centre.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Hoffman, Nathan Beaulieu, Nicholas Pard, Nick Petersen, Michael Kirkpatrick (2) and Zack Phillips (2) all scored for the Port City's major junior squad in the lopsided road win, with J-F Leblanc and Jonathan Hazen (2) replying for the Foreurs.
Between the pipes, veteran goalie Marco Cousineau made 18 saves in improving to 23-16 on the year while rookie net minder Jacob Choinard fell to 7-8 after surrendering four goals on 14 shots faced prior to being pulled in favour of Sean Coulton (15 saves) late in the second period.
After both teams came up empty on a pair of early-match power play opportunities, Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Nick Petersen scored the game's first goal in the seventeenth minute of play. The 20-year old sniper wisely elected to shoot during an impromptu two-on-one rush with Mike Hoffman, bulging the twine on a bullet of a wrist shot which improved his 2009-10 goals total to 36.
Freshman winger Zack Phillips put the visitors up 2-0 late in the opening frame, firing home his 15th goal of the season from close range shortly after line-mates Aidan Kelly and Tomas Jurco combined to force a turnover deep in Val-d'Or territory.
The Foreurs cut the Sea Dogs' lead in half whilst in possession of a two-man advantage, with Jonathan Hazen finishing off a nice passing play by ripping a one-timer past a sprawling Marco Cousineau 2:58 into the second period. Vincent Couture and Olivier Archembault both drew well-earned helpers on Hazen's man-up marker.
Nathan Beaulieu restored the visitors' two-goal advantage 7:50 later, taking a feed from Stanislav Galiev on the fly in Val-d'Or territory and beating Chouinard high, glove side on a sharp wrister to pick up his tenth goal of the season. Superstar sniper Mike Hoffman brought and end to the first-year puck stopper's night a moment later, jamming a crisp Nick Petersen pass across the Foreurs' goal line from a sharp angle to register the 40th tally of his overage campaign. Sean Coulton took over goaltending duties for the home team after Hoffman put the visitors up 4-1
J-F Leblanc reduced the hosts' deficit to two at the 16:47 mark of the middle frame, sneaking a long-range backhander through Cousineau's pads to record the seventh goal of his rookie season. Michael Kirkpatrick then put the Sea Dogs back up by a field goal late in the stanza, bringing an abrupt end to a lengthy scramble in Val-d'Or's zone by sliding his 26th of the year to the back of the Foreurs' net.
Rookie forward Jonathan Huberdeau added to Saint John's lead 1:51 into the third period, carrying the puck out from the corner at Val-d'Or's end of the ice and making several nice stick-handling moves prior to tucking in his third career power play goal past Coulton's flailing right skate. Jonathan Hazen then registered his second goal of the night on a high snap shot, making no mistake after Vincent Couture stole the puck behind Saint John's net and threaded a pass out front for his crease-charging teammate.
Nicholas Pard responded almost immediately for the visitors, batting a loose puck out of mid-air to put his team back up by four. Pard was denied on a penalty shot a moment later, but Zack Phillips successfully gave Saint John a five-goal lead shortly thereafter on a nifty redirection which struck pay dirt to give the 17-year old Frederictonian his second consecutive multi-goal game.
Michael Kirkpatrick put the Sea Dogs up by an unconverted touchdown late in regulation, burying a spectacular cross-ice feed from Nick Petersen to tally his second marker of the evening and give Saint John the decision by a 9-3 final.
Up next for the Sea Dogs (50-10-1-0) is a Saturday afternoon contest versus the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at Dave Keon Arena (puck drop - 5pm AST). Saint John's next home game is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 3 at 7pm versus the P.E.I. Rocket. Special $5 upper bowl seats are available for this match, which is being sponsored by Irwin Industrial Tools. Tickets to all upcoming Sea Dogs home games are available by calling the Harbour Station Box Office at (506) 657-1234, or by visiting www.harbourstation.ca.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2010
- Juniors fall in shootout 2-1 - Montreal Juniors
- Saint John Reaches 50 Wins & 100 Points for the First Time in Franchise History - Saint John Sea Dogs
- Huskies Will Appeal Commissioner's Decision - QMJHL
- Juniors Game Notes - Montreal Juniors
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