Sea Dogs Force Halifax to Final Seconds
Published on March 23, 2013 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release
HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs put up a much tougher fight against the Halifax Mooseheads in Saturday night's Quebec Major Junior Hockey League President Cup playoff action. Halifax took the match a 2-1 decision and a 2-0 series lead.
Maxime Villemaire tallied the lone Sea Dogs and Sebastien Auger had another stellar performance between the pipes with 43 saves in the loss.
Matthew Boudreau had the dagger and Brent Andrews also replied for the Mooseheads as Zachary Fucale stopped 14 in the win.
Click HERE to view a complete scoresheet from Sunday's game. For interviews and highlights, visit Sea Dogs TV, the team's official YouTube channel.
The tables were turned as the Mooseheads found themselves in penalty trouble in the opening frame.
With a wild scramble in front of the Moosehead net, Villemaire took advantage of the extra man, converting at 14:01 on the Dogs' second power play of the night. Jakub Izacky and Stephen Anderson nabbed the assists on the play.
Shots were much tighter than the first period of Game 1 with Halifax taking a slight 10-7 lead in the opening 20 minutes.
The Moosheads got onto the board with a shorthanded marker from Andrews 25 seconds into the middle period.
Saint John got some traction following a Trey Lewis penalty, when Andreas Tsogkas used a burst of speed to cut into the Halifax zone and was hooked up.
Following the Moose penalty kill, the Sea Dogs kept the puck in the offensive zone. Oliver Cooper had a great chance on a shot from the left faceoff circle that deflected low on Fucale off a Halifax defender. Jason Cameron couldn't corral the rebound and Fucale smothered the puck.
With the Mooseheads shorthanded again, the Sea Dogs lost the puck at the offensive blueline, but Pierre Durepos made an excellent defensive play to dive and poke the puck off of Andrews' stick.
The second period ended with a deadlock at 1-1 as the shot clock read 29-11 for the Mooseheads in the first 40 minutes.
Auger made a great stop on Andrew Ryan after Nathan MacKinnon and Stefan Fournier made a great play to get Ryan the puck and fire a backhand shot with Auger out of position. The shifty netminder quickly recovered and found the shot with the glove to keep things deadlocked.
After the initial stop by Auger, the puck was lying in the crease behind the Saint John netminder and Jurij Repe backhanded the puck out of the zone on the penalty kill.
Boudreau made it 2-1 Mooseheads with a power play goal at 12:42, finally beating Auger in the third after firing another 15 shots on the sophomore netminder in the final frame.
MacKenzie Brown nearly got the goal back just seconds later with a great chance, but Fucale got the blocker on it at the last second to rob him.
With Auger on the bench in the final minute, the Sea Dogs had tremendous pressure on the Mooseheads, but couldn't convert to force overtime as Halifax kept the puck out of the net.
Halifax takes a 2-0 series lead with the 2-1 victory over the Dogs.
Games 3 and 4 will be played at Harbour Station on March 26 and 27. Both games start at 7 p.m. Tickets will be on sale to the general public March 22 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased by visiting the Harbour Station box office, calling 657-1234 or heading to tickets.harbourstation.ca.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2013
- Sea Dogs Force Halifax to Final Seconds - Saint John Sea Dogs
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