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QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Fall To Wildcats 5-3

January 6, 2010 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


SAINT JOHN, NB --- The league-leading Saint John Sea Dogs dropped their first game of 2010 on Wednesday night, falling to the Moncton Wildcats by a score of 5-3 in front of 4,128 fans at Harbour Station.

Moncton (26-11-1-3) now leads the 2009-10 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup Challenge by a mark of 10.5 - 8.5 over Saint John (34-7-1-0).

The opening fifty minutes of play produced a 3-3 deadlock on Wednesday, with the Wildcats pulling ahead in the second half of the third period on goals by Scott Brannon and Devon MacAusland.

Marek Hrivik, Tyler Howe, and Daniel Petterson also scored for Moncton in the mid-week intraprovincial summit, while Mike Hoffman, Michael Kirkpatrick, and Tomas Jurco responded for the hosts in a losing effort.

Between the pipes, Nicola Riopel (26 saves) outdueled Marco Cousineau (27 saves) in picking up his fourth win of the season. Cousineau is now 1-1 as a Sea Dog.

Moncton got off to a quick start on Wednesday as import winger Marek Hrivik knocked a backhand shot past a sprawling Cousineau in the fifth minute of play, picking up the 18th marker of his rookie season in the process. The Sea Dogs responded three minutes later, with veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick netting a transition tally to improve his 2009-10 goals total to 13.

An outstanding shift by Saint John's #2 offensive line produced the second goal of the period for the home team 12:27 into the first period. Vancouver Canucks prospect Steven Anthony won a key battle deep in Wildcats territory, digging the puck out and swiftly distributing it to a crease-hovering Tomas Jurco. The Slovakian sniper wasted little time in one-timing the pass across Moncton's goal line to record his 12th goal of the year.

The Sea Dogs went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill during the opening frame as they took a 2-1 leading into the first intermission.

Saint John went up 3-1 at the 6:42 mark of period number two when Mike Hoffman beat the QMJHL's reigning Most Valuable Player through the five-hole on a slap shot to match his uniform number in recording goal #27 of his overage campaign. The Sea Dogs nearly added to their lead a moment later, but a pair of sensational glove saves by Riopel off of Stanislav Galiev and Nathan Beaulieu from point-blank range kept the visitors' deficit at two.

The Wildcats then pulled to within one of their hosts at the 35:19 mark of the match on Tyler Howe's first career goal, which proved to be the final offensive strike of the middle frame as Wednesday's battle between the top two teams in the QMJHL Atlantic reached the forty minute mark with the hosts ahead on the scoreboard 3-2.

Moncton then proceeded to reel off three unanswered goals during regulation's final frame to take a two-goal lead. Unable to mount a late-match comeback, Saint John ultimately dropped the decision by a 5-3 final.

Up next for the Port City's major junior squad is a Friday night tilt with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at Harbour Station. The puck drops at 7:30pm as the Sea Dogs look to capture their first victory of the calendar year at the expense of their divisional adversaries. Tickets to this match are available by calling the arena box office at (506) 657-1234 (506) 657-1234 , or by visiting www.tickets.harbourstation.ca.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2010


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