QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs' Comeback Attempt Falls Short In Verdun

January 23, 2010 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


VERDUN, QC --- The Saint John Sea Dogs' five-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Port City's major junior squad dropped a 6-4 decision to the Montreal Juniors at Verdun Auditorium.

After falling behind 5-2 late in the third period the Sea Dogs staged a valiant comeback attempt, striking twice in the 59th minute of play to reduce their deficit to a single goal. The Juniors were able to keep the puck out of their net during the final sixty seconds of regulation however, adding an empty net marker to take the match by a 6-4 final.

By virtue of Saturday's win, Montreal earns a two-games-to-one victory in the season series between the expansion cousins.

Jérémy Gouchie (2), Matthew Brenton (2), David Rose, and Louis-Marc Aubry all scored for the Juniors in the hard-fought home win, while Nick Petersen (2) and Mike Hoffman (2) replied for the visitors. Hoffman assisted on both of Petersen's goals to finish the day with four points and earn Second Star of the Game honours.

Between the pipes, L.A. Kings prospect J-F Bérubé (35 saves) outdueled Karel St-Laurent (24 saves) in improving to 11-11 on the season. Despite suffering a loss on Saturday, St-Laurent's individual record remains highly-impressive at 14-3.

Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Nick Petersen opened the scoring on Saturday, taking a feed from Mike Hoffman on the fly in the fourth minute of play and ripping a wrist shot past Bérubé to record the 27th goal of his overage campaign.

The Sea Dogs then killed off back-to-back penalties before Matthew Brenton buried a rebound produced by a Jérémy Gouchie shot to tie things up at one apiece at the 14:38 mark of the opening frame. Montreal took their first lead of the day four minutes later, with Louis-Marc Aubry pouncing on a loose puck near Saint John's net and knocking his 11th goal of the year past a sprawling St-Laurent to bring an abrupt end to a lengthy scramble.

Nicholas Pard came incredibly close to re-tying the match up at two apiece midway through the second period, beating Bérubé cleanly on a second-chance snap shot. Pard's scoring attempt struck iron, however, as the Juniors' one-goal lead remained in tact at the behest of good fortune.

Montreal then went up 3-1 on a great individual effort by Matthew Brenton. The overage winger forced a turnover in the neutral zone prior to leading a 2-on-1 rush into Saint John territory and dishing the puck over to Jérémy Gouchie once the veteran centre became situated in favourable scoring position. Gouchie proceeded to rifle a high wrist shot past St-Laurent, registering a short-handed marker and improving his 2009-10 goals total to 15.

The Juniors went up 4-1 at the 5:45 mark of the third period when a streaking David Rose beat St-Laurent from a tough angle to pick up the fourth goal of his career. Superstar forward Mike Hoffman reduced the visitors' deficit to two 1:14 later, taking a cross-ice feed from Simon Després deep in Montreal territory and blasting a shot over Bérubé's right shoulder to become the fifth player in Sea Dogs history to reach the thirty goal plateau in a single season.

After Matthew Brenton scored to put the hosts up by a field goal with 2:54 remaining in the third, Hoffman hammered home a one-timer late in regulation to again pull the visiting squad from south western New Brunswick back to within two of their opponents.

Nick Petersen then deflected a Hoffman shot past Bérubé at the 18:58 mark of the third to move the Sea Dogs to within immediate striking distance of the Juniors. That would be as close as Saint John would get though, as Jérémy Gouchie scored an empty-net goal with 0:01 remaining on the clock to give the hosts a two-goal victory.

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Olympiques at the Robert Guertin Arena. The puck drops at 5pm AST as Saint John (39-8-1-0) looks to wrap up their final 'three-in-three' road trip of the season with a big win over Gatineau.

Check out the Saint John Sea Dogs Statistics



Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2010


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