Saturday, February 5, 2011

CORBEIL, DOGS EDGE MOOSEHEADS

SN RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 4, Mooseheads 3

HALIFAX, NS – Mathieu Corbeil got what he wanted.

The current Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender got the start against his old team that he wanted – and he delivered. Corbeil made 21 saves as the Sea Dogs battled back to defeat the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 on Saturday night at the Metro Centre in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Michael Kirkpatrick had two goals while Zack Phillips and Jonathan Huberdeau each added singles. Huberdeau also had two assists.

Corbeil played okay against his former team but had a few shaky moments. The 19-year old Columbus Blue Jackets prospect allowed a goal in the first minute of play and the let in a very weak Gerrad Grant shot in the second period. But in the end, it was good enough to pick up two-points for Saint John.

The Mooseheads came to play in this one. Halifax had a 2-0 lead after one but then started to get into penalty troubles thanks to some very borderline calls by the officials. The Herd blew their lead but were able to get it back once more before bowing out to the powerful Sea Dogs.

It was the second period that did the Mooseheads in as Saint John scored four in the frame en route to an eventual win. Overall, it was a solid game by the Herd against the top-ranked team in the land. Halifax has been playing better of late and it certainly showed in this one.

Halifax had two markers from Charles Bety and a solo goal from Grant. Goaltender Anthony Terenzio made 26 saves in the loss.

FIRST PERIOD
Charles Bety gave the Mooseheads an early lead as he made it 1-0 just 43 seconds into the game. Bety came down the wing and then centered himself before sniping a shot into the corner past Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil.

Tomas Jurco then had a good chance for Saint John down low but was denied by the pad of Moose ‘tender Anthony Terenzio. But the Herd would get the better of the chances after that. Carl Gelinas had a partial break but had sent a shot wide and then Corbeil robbed Darcy Ashley on a rebound opportunity.

Corbeil’s best save of the period came when Martin Frk cut in front and got a backhand shot off but the Sea Dogs netminder was able to get the pad out and make the stop. Then, after Sawyer Hannay ran into a linesman, Michael Kirkpatrick shot the puck on a two-on-one but was stopped. Jurco picked up the rebound in front but was denied by Terenzio as well.

Halifax scored again at 13:52. Following a scramble in front, Bety picked the disc up and went around the net. With Corbeil down, Bety went up high to give the home side a 2-0 lead.

The Sea Dogs started to get some good chances following the goal. Eric Gelinas let a point shot go through a heavy amount of traffic but Terenzio made the glove stop.

After Nathan Beaulieu nailed Brent Andrews along the boards, Andrews took a hooking call at 15:55. On the power play, the Sea Dogs had some decent pressure going but could not beat Terenzio in the Halifax net.

Bety took a goaltender interference call at 19:04 after tripping up Corbeil. Ryan Tesink had a great chance in front as the period winded down but was unable to beat the Terenzio.

Shots in the opening period were 11-8 Saint John.

SECOND PERIOD
The Sea Dogs got on the board on the power play just 27 seconds into the second period. The puck came loose in front and Huberdeau was left all alone, shooting the puck five-hole on Terenzio to cut the Mooseheads’ lead to one.

Soon after Carl Gelinas was sprung on a break but shot wide, Danick Gauthier was called for charging at 2:06. But at 3:31, things evened up as Konrad Abeltshauser headed to the box. During the four-on-four span, Kirkpatrick let a shot go that produced a rebound. Phillips backhanded the puck on goal from the goal line and beat Terenzio to tie the match at 2-2. The goal was later rewarded to Kirkpatrick.

The Mooseheads’ penalty woes continued at 4:58 as Luca Ciampini was called for tripping. During the man advantage, Stanislav Galiev cut through the defense and broke in but was stopped by the pad of the Halifax goaltender. Then, Phillips was wide open at the side but couldn’t get his stick on the puck.

Halifax got their lead back at 7:55 as Gerrad Grant came down the wing and sent a shot on goal from a sharp angle. The disc somehow slipped through the pads of Corbeil to give the Herd a 3-2 lead.

Penalties to Jason Seed and Martin Frk at 8:49 created some more four-on-four action. During that span at 9:53, Huberdeau was in the offensive zone and skated between the circles. He then sent a perfect pass to Phillips at the side of goal who wired one up high on Terenzio to give the Dogs a 3-3 tie.

Corbeil stood tall soon after in the Saint John crease as he stoned Frk with a huge glove stop. Then, Huberdeau deflected a shot on goal that created a huge rebound but nobody was there to gobble it up.

Eric Gelinas took a hooking penalty at 14:11, giving the Moose another power play. But the Herd couldn’t get anything set up and failed to retake the lead.

Saint John finally jumped in front at 18:16 as Kirkpatrick had the puck below the goal line. After some nice spin work to keep control of the puck, he cut in front and jammed a shot under Terenzio to give the Dogs a 4-3 lead.

Shots in the second session of play were 13-10 in favour of the visitors.

THIRD PERIOD
Halifax went to the power play just three seconds into the frame as Kirkpatrick was called for cross checking. The Mooseheads had an okay man advantage but could not score. Shortly after, they nearly tied the affair but Nathan Beaulieu made a terrific play to rob Ashley of a sure goal.

The gloves came off a 4:10 as Mike Thomas and Hannay went at it. The two put in a pretty solid tilt in what could be ruled as a draw. Hannay picked a game misconduct and likely a one-game suspension for “taking off one's own helmet or attempting to pull off an opponent's helmet, undo the chinstrap or his opponent's.”

After the Sea Dogs killed off an Aidan Kelly penalty, they had a lengthy five-on-three power play opportunity at 8:04. Huberdeau had the best chance of the man advantage but was stopped by Terenzio. The Mooseheads put together a solid penalty kill and were able to come out of it still down just a goal.

As play started to slow down, Phillips tried jam the puck past Terenzio but couldn’t. The puck then rebounded to Galiev who was also stopped. The flurry of chances kicked off a few moments of good Saint John offensive pressure as the Moose had a hard time trying to get the puck out of the zone let alone trying to tie the match.

In the final minute, Halifax just couldn’t things organized to try and even the game up. With three seconds left, the Mooseheads took a too many men call which would force the faceoff to be taken in the Halifax zone and guarantee a Saint John win.

Shots in the final frame were six apiece.

Saint John went 2-for-7 on the power play while Halifax went 0-for-4.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Charlottetown on Friday to face the Rocket.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

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