Dogs Down Herd 4-3

FINAL: Halifax 3, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN – In an entertaining game featuring the two best teams in the Maritimes Division, the Saint John Sea Dogs won their fourth straight game with a 3-2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night.

Danick Gauthier scored twice while Tomas Jurco and Grant West added singles for Saint John. Gauthier and Nathan Beaulieu each had a pair of assists in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League contest.

Former Moosehead Mathieu Corbeil beat his old team again, making 33 saves for the win.

The Sea Dogs, missing three of their top forwards in Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev and Ryan Tesink, didn’t play their greatest game of the season but played well enough to win. Halifax and Saint John played at the same level for much of the night, creating a fast and entertaining contest at Harbour Station.

The win gives Saint John an 18-6-0-0 record for 36 points and top spot in the entire QMJHL.

The Mooseheads had a pair of goals from super-rookie Nathan MacKinnon who was playing his first game in Saint John as a member of the Mooseheads. Gabriel Desjardins had the other Herd goal while Alexandre Grenier added a pair of assists.

Netminder Zachary Fucale made 28 saves in the loss.

Gauthier scored 8:03 in to give Saint John a 1-0 lead. The 20-year old snipped a hard shot top corner past Moose netminder Zachary Fucale.

The Mooseheds tied it up at 13:05 as Mathieu Corbeil produced a rebound, allowing MacKinnon to roof the puck and even things up.

Halifax was the better team in the first and held an 11-7 shots advantage.

With two Mooseheads in the box, Jurco blasted the puck from just below the Telus ad to give Saint John a 2-1 lead at 9:40.

The Mooseheads tied it on a power play of their own at 12:35 with Jason Cameron in the sin bin. Alexandre Grenier was at the side of the goal and passed over to a wide open MacKinnon. The first overall pick in the QMJHL Entry Draft had a wide open goal to make it a 2-2 game.

At 19:07, Scott Oke was behind the goal and fed West in front who jammed it in to give Saint John a 3-2 lead after two.

Shots in the middle stanza were 16-13 in favour of the Sea Dogs.

In the third, Gauthier scored his 22^nd goal of the year at 1:10 on a power play to put the Sea Dogs up 4-2. At 4:36, Sawyer Hannay and West dropped the gloves for a solid tilt that saw the Sea Dog forward knock off Hannay’s helmet with a big blow.

The Mooseheads stayed in the game though as a shot rebounded to Desjardins who slid the puck just past the pad of an outstretched Corbeil to make it a one-goal affair once again.

Halifax had a huge opportunity midway through the frame with two Sea Dogs in the box. But Saint John held the fort, playing some solid defense.

In the final minute, the Herd pulled Fucale but were unable to tie the match.

Shots were 12-9 Halifax in the third period.

Halifax went 1-for-5 on the power play while Saint John went 2-for-4.

MISSING IN ACTION: Forwards Jonathan Huberdeau (broken foot), Ryan Tesink (concussion), Stanislav Galiev (broken wrist) and Devon Oliver-Dares (personal reasons) were all scratched along with defenseman Tyrone Sock (healthy).

REACLLED: McKenzie Brown was recalled for the contest. He has a goal and an assist in 13 games with the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s 18-0 Woodstock Slammers. He was named the Dickies Hardest Working Player of the Game.

LINEUP: With all the lienup adjustments, here is what the lines looked like as listed on the lineup card.

MacAulay – Phillips – Kelly

Oke – Gauthier – Jurco

Cooper – Cameron – West

Creighton – X – Brown

PLAYERS OF THE MONTH: Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil ws named the Sea Dogs player of the month for October. Defenseman Pierre Durepos was named the academic player of the month.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Baie-Comeau Drakkar tomorrow afternoon at 3pm at Harbour Station.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation