QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Fall To Juniors 6-3

Published on September 26, 2008 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


VERDUN, QC --- The Saint John Sea Dogs opened their first significant road trip of the season with a loss on Friday night, falling to the Montreal Juniors by a score of 6-3 at the Verdun Auditorium.

After an exciting, back-and-forth opening thirty minutes of play produced a 1-1 deadlock, the Juniors exploded for four unanswered goals in the second half of the middle frame to take an ultimately insurmountable lead, eventually winning by a three-goal margin to earn their first-ever home victory at the expense of their expansion cousins in the team's first clash with the Sea Dogs since relocating from St. John's to western Quebec.

All three of Saint John's overage forwards - Payton Liske, Francois Gauthier, and Ryan Sparling - scored goals in the defeat while Robert Mayer suffered his second loss of the year between the pipes for the Sea Dogs after surrendering a quintet of tallies in forty minutes of playing time.

Saint John started the game out extremely strong on Friday, earning a high-quality scoring chance shortly after the opening face-off as Steven Anthony got off a pair of quick shots from close range that starting Juniors goalie Jake Allen was able to block with an impressive display of athleticism. Payton Liske then very nearly scored on a wraparound a moment later as Allen was forced to make another difficult save in the opening minute of play to keep the Sea Dogs from drawing first blood.

The Fredericton, NB native made several more sensational stops during Saint John's first power play of the night, with bad luck also keeping the Sea Dogs off the scoreboard as Mike Thomas rang the puck of off Montreal's crossbar a moment after Andrew Howes had struck the post with a dangerous-looking shot.

The Sea Dogs were able to register a full baker's dozen worth of shots on Allen before Robert Mayer was forced to make his first save of the night on Friday - a stat emblematic of Saint John's early-match domination.

With Matthew Stoddard serving a double-minor for high sticking, Mayer faced his first big test of the night in the form of an odd-man rush that culminated in a backhand shot from point-blank range that the Sea Dogs net minder was able to thwart by way of a sliding pad save.

After Mayer came up with a pair of spectacular saves during Montreal's third power play of the game, the Juniors were able to jam the puck over Saint John's goal line with Luke Adam getting credit for the briefly-disputed power play marker at the 16:38 mark of period number one.

Adam's tally proved to be the lone goal of the opening frame, as Friday night's contest reached the twenty minute mark with the Juniors leading 1-0.

On the power play, Ryan Sparling tied the game up 1-1 early in the second period, taking a pass from Simon Despres near his own blue line prior to bursting through the neutral zone and into Montreal territory, making effective use of his blazing speed along the way. The 20-year old winger capped the play off with a bullet of a wrist shot that beat Allen high from a sharp angle, simultaneously giving the veteran forward his first goal of the season and the Sea Dogs their first tally of the night 3:37 into the middle frame. .

Luke Adam then re-gave Montreal the lead, ripping a high shot that beat Mayer blocker side after a turnover by the visitors in their own end resulted in the Newfoundland-born sniper receiving the puck three feet inside of the left face-off circle in Saint John's zone, making no mistake upon having the prime scoring opportunity bestowed upon him.

Matt Fillier doubled the Juniors' lead 1:15 later, working a down-low-give-and-go with Adam that ended when the Los Angeles Kings prospect fired a backhand to the back of the Sea Dogs' net from just outside the Saint John crease to earn his first goal of the season.

The score was then made 4-1 by Guillaume Asselin, who banged a loose pack past a sprawling Mayer on the tail end of another power play for his third of the year. Matthew Brenton then scored shorthanded on a breakaway to put Montreal up by four as the game entered its second intermission.

Karel St-Laurent took over goaltending duties for Saint John in period number three, surrendering a five-hole goal off the stick of Nick Layton 4:11 into the frame as Montreal opened up a five-goal lead early in regulation's final frame.

The Sea Dogs cut into the Juniors' sizeable lead on the power play, with Payton Liske scoring on a rebound to pull his team to within four of the hosts at the 7:07 mark of the third. Francois Gauthier then re-directed a Nathan Beaulieu point shot to the back of Montreal's net late in regulation to register his third goal of the season and decrease Saint John's deficit to three, which would be as close as they would get to the Juniors on the night.

Up next for Saint John is a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Victoriaville Tigres at the Desjardins Coliseum. After wrapping up their road trip in Shawinigan on Sunday afternoon, the Sea Dogs will return to south western New Brunswick where they will prepare to face the Cataractes on Thursday night at Harbour Station. Tickets to this 7:00pm game are available by calling 657-1234.

'DIDO' SKATES WITH LEAFS: At Toronto's Air Canada Centre on Friday, Sea Dogs centre Chris DiDomenico suited up for his first career NHL exhibition game, logging 12:11 of ice time including 55 seconds of power play action during the Maple Leafs' 5-4 pre-season loss to the Pitsburgh Penguins. The 19-year old offensive dynamo also went five-for-eight in the face-off circle on the night.

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets to Game Two of the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge go on sale this coming Monday morning at 10:00am at the Harbour Station Box Office. The highly-anticipated international contest will be played on November 19 in Saint John.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from September 26, 2008


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