Sea Dogs Finish off MAINEiacs in Wild One
Published on April 27, 2011 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release
LEWISTON, Me. - Stephen MacAulay scored his second dramatic winning goal in four games to lift the Saint John Sea Dogs to a sweep of the Lewiston Maineiacs in their President's Cup semifinal series.
MacAulay's goal at 17:08 of the third period gave the Sea Dogs a 6-5 edge in Game 4 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff matchup, as the Dogs dug their way out of an early 3-0 hole.
Zack Phillips, Nathan Beaulieu, Scott Oke, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Eric Gelinas had the other Saint John goals and Mike Thomas added two assists. Jacob DeSerres made 25 saves on 28 shots for the relief win after Mathieu Corbeil was beaten on the first two shots of the game.
Saint John will make its second straight appearance in the President's Cup final, as the Dogs await the winner of the other semifinal between the Gatineau Olympiques and Quebec Remparts.
Cameron Critchlow, Alex Zafiris, Olivier Dame-Malka, Stefan Fournier, and Pierre-Olivier Morin scored for Lewiston. Andrey Makarov made 31 saves in the loss.
Click HERE http://en.lhjmq.qc.ca/schedule/show/game/58562 for a complete score sheet from Wednesday's matchup.
The Maineiacs scored on their first three shots, all on strange bounces that got past Sea Dogs goaltenders. Critchlow was credited with the first goal at 1:21, then Zafiris was the beneficiary of a redirection at 2:43.
Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant made the goaltending switch at that point. Before DeSerres had a chance to make a save, Kevin Gagne fired a glass-breaking shot that showered the goal judge and several fans in broken glass. There was a long delay as the Androscoggin Bank Colisee staff replaced the pane of glass behind the Lewiston net, but it didn't provide a reprieve from Saint John's bad luck. Malka, who was not suspended after his vicious hit from behind on Jonathan Huberdeau in Game 2, was credited with Lewiston's third goal at 5:05.
Phillips finally got the Sea Dogs on the board with an unassisted marker at 7:07. The draft-eligible centre controlled the puck off a draw to Makarov's right, walked in and beat the goalie with a low shot for his eighth of the playoffs. Tomas Jurco had a great chance on a 4-on-4 in the ninth minute, when he redirected a Stanislav Galiev pass off the post. The Sea Dogs carried the play for much of the latter half of the opening frame and finished with a 14-10 shots advantage.
Huberdeau set up a great chance for Phillips in the slot on the opening shift of the second period, but Makarov robbed him with the glove. Off the ensuing faceoff, Cameron Critchlow was called for tripping Galiev, setting up a Saint John power play. On the man advantage, Beaulieu took a feed from Phillips and unloaded a high hard one-timer from the right point that beat Makarov at 1:28. Michael Kirkpatrick had the other assist on the goal, Beaulieu's eighth of the playoffs.
Fournier then made it 4-2 at 3:44, taking a centering pass from Kirill Kabanov in front and beating DeSerres.
Oke cut the lead to 4-3 with his first of the playoffs at 5:22, converting off a goalmouth scramble with assists from MacAulay and Thomas. DeSerres preserved the one-goal margin with a big save sliding to his right to deny Kabanov's one-timer on a cross-ice pass eight minutes into the second.
Huberdeau then equalized with a deke to his forehand on a breakaway at 13:29. Gabriel Bourret assisted on the goal, Huberdeau's league-best 13th of the postseason. DeSerres kept things even, robbing Kabanov from the slot on a power play with less than four minutes to go, then kicking out the left pad on a point blast from Samuel Carrier on the ensuing faceoff.
The excitement continued in the third period. Just after the Dogs killed a Beaulieu roughing penalty assessed at the end of the second, Steven Anthony was hacked on a breakaway at 2:01 of the third. The 19-year-old Vancouver Canucks prospect was awarded a penalty shot, but Makarov kicked out the left pad to stop his low shot.
Gelinas gave the Dogs their first lead of the night on a power play at 4:35 of the third. The Sea Dogs had possession for about 40 seconds in the offensive zone when a broken play came to Gelinas at the top of the right-wing circle and he unloaded a one-timer into the top corner. Anthony and Tomas Jurco assisted on the goal, the fourth of the playoffs for the former Maineiac.
Morin then made it 5-5 at 5:47, winning a draw to the right of DeSerres, going to the net and redirecting a pass Carrier sent from the right point.
MacAulay's winning goal wasn't exactly pretty, but it certainly got the job done. Gabriel Bourret got a point shot on net and the rebound bounced around in a scramble with MacAulay finally burying it. Thomas and Ryan Tesink, who also had whacks, picked up the assist on MacAulay's fourth of the playoffs, and his first since notching the game-winner in overtime of Game 1.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from April 27, 2011
- Sea Dogs Finish off MAINEiacs in Wild One - Saint John Sea Dogs
- Game Four in Lewiston Tonight - Lewiston MAINEiacs
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