RECAP: Blowout City. Dogs Lose 11-2.

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

FINAL: Halifax 11, Saint John 2

The Saint John Sea Dogs traveled to Moose Country on Saturday night for a rematch against the Halifax Mooseheads.

Sebastien Auger once again took the net for Saint John while Zachary Fucale stepped into the net for Halifax.

Friday night saw both teams fighting for the win, at times getting quite physical. Fans wondered if their second game would bring more of the muscle to the ice.

FIRST PERIOD

Things started off rough for Saint John as Devon Oliver-Dares catches the first penalty of the game, only 39 seconds in. He was sent off for checking from behind.

The scoring opened for Halifax opened at 2:14 as Luca Ciampini broke through Auger’s defenses. MacKenzie Weegar and Darcy Ashley each grabbed an assist.

Halifax scored their second goal of the game at 3:23, just over a minute later as Jonathan Druin passed it up to Stefan Fournier who passed it further on to Nathan MacKinnon who, on a breakaway, slipped it past Auger.

Martin Frk shocked Moose fans with his penalty as he was escorted off the ice and back to the dressing room at 5:02, receiving a five minute major for slew-footing. That would end the night for Frk.

Frk’s ejection didn’t seem to have the effect that Saint John fans wanted as Nathan MacKinnon scored his second goal of the night, increasing Halifax’s lead to 3-0 at 6:02

Benjamin Hade took a charging penalty at 9:53, sending the Dogs on another penalty kill.

As things heated up behind the Saint John net, Olivier Leblanc got a cross-checking penalty at 15:40.

The fourth Halifax goal went to Randy Gazzola at 16:43. Darcy Ashley was the only one to assist on that goal.

The first period ended with a score of 4-0 for Halifax. Shots on goal were 4-12 in favour of the Mooseheads.

SECOND PERIOD

Alex Fournier repalced Sebastien Auger in net at the start of the second period.

The score raised to 5-0 as Stefan Fournier, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Druin, fired one past Fournier at 4:24.

Jonathan Druin made a breakaway, scoring on Fournier with Abeltshauser grabbing a point for an assist at 12:17. Halifax continued to dominate 6-0.

Moments later, Andrew Ryan fired high glove side, scoring Halifax’s 7th goal of the game with assists going to MacKenzie Weegar and Dominic Beauchemin.

Saint John was sent on a power play as Trey Lewis was sent to the box for cross checking at 19:11. The buzzer brought the period to an end and Saint John would start the third with a one man advantage.

Shots on goal for the period were 13-3 in favour of Halifax. The second period ended with a score of 7-0 for Halifax.

THIRD PERIOD

Sea Dogs started the period on the power play. Jonathan Huberdeau leapt into action and put Saint John on the board with the Sea Dogs’ first goal of the game. With assists from Steven Duda and Ryan Tesink, Saint John left the goose egg zone. Just twenty seconds into the third, the score was 7-1.

Nathan MacKinnon answered Saint John’s goal with his own hat trick goal at 3:13. He was assisted by Stefan Fournier. Less than a minute later, Luca Ciampini - with assists from Darcy Ashley and Konrad Abeltshauser - scored the 9th goal of the game at 4:06. The score was 9-1.

At 6:45 things continued to go right for Halifax as Konrad Abeltshauser sent the puck forward to Matthew Boudreau who in turn placed it square into the net. This would bring the Moose to double digits, leading the Dogs 10-1.

Saint John’s captain, Jonathan Huberdeau, scored his second goal of the game and the second goal for the Dogs all evening. Ryan Tesink and Stephen Anderson assisted on slightly closing the gap at 10-2.

Just after the goal, a tussle occurred at Saint John’s net as Luca Ciampini barreled into Fournier. He would get two minutes for goaltender interference. Noah Zilbert took a penalty for roughing as well. Both penalties happened at 11:22

Max Lindsay would send Saint John to the power play with his hooking call at 13:23.

At 16:05, Luca Ciampini rocketed one past Fournier, bringing the score to 11-2. There was some confusion as to who got the goal but, at the time of this posting, the Q site has given it to Ciampini, completing the hat trick.

Brendan Duke’s hooking penalty, at 18:21, would be the last penalty of the game.

Halifax would end the game with an 11-2 win. The final shots on goal were 37-14 in favour of the Mooseheads.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow in SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Charlottetown on Wednesday to take on the PEI Rocket. Puck drops at the Charlottetown Civic Centre at 7:00 pm.