RECAP: Headline With The Word "Brink" In It. Dogs Lose 6-1.

FINAL: Halifax 6, Saint John 1

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - Saint John played host to the Halifax Mooseheads on Tuesday evening as both teams locked horns to compete in Game 3 of the first playoff round. 2,795 fans (Ed note: welp) headed to Harbour Station to watch the contest.

Sebastien Auger took his place in net for Saint John while Zahary Fucale prepared to fend off Saint John's assault.

FIRST PERIOD

Stephen MacAulay proved that his powers are still strong within the walls of his old home at Harbour Station. The former Sea Dog scored at 1:30 into the first period, giving Halifax the early lead.

Jakub Izacky served Saint John’s too many men penalty at 11:10.

Matthew Boudreau served a similar penalty for Halifax at 14:09 which was soon offset by Pierre Durepos with a tripping call at 14:41.

Andrew Ryan scored the final goal of the period, bringing Halifax up to 2-0 at 17:33.

Shots were 9-6 Halifax in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Martin Frk kicked the period off quickly with the third Halifax goal of the evening at 2:38. This was soon followed by number four as Stephen MacAulay put the puck between the pipes at 4:20.

MacAulay pulled a tripping penalty at 8:03, sending the Dogs to the power play and allowing Jurij Repe to score the only Saint John goal of the game at 8:08. This brought the score 4-1. Pierre Durepos and Oliver Cooper grabbed the assists on that goal.

This was soon answered by Jonthan Drouin at 11:16, with an assist going to Nathan MacKinnon.

Ian Saab found himself heading to the penalty box at 13:46.

It was a tripping call that sent Brett Malone to the penalty box at 17:22. He was soon followed by Stefan Fournier at 18:26 as he took the same penalty for Halifax.

Ian Saab once again headed to box at 19:00, this time for hooking.

Shots were 23-7 in favour of the Moose in the middle stanza. Yikes.

THIRD PERIOD

The third period left fans wondering just what happened as the penalty minutes exploded during the last 20 minutes of play.

Stephen MacAulay started off the penalties at 1:03 with a checking to the head penalty as well as a game misconduct. While shorthanded, Jonathan Drouin brought the score up to 6-1 at 5:41 with his quick reflexes.

Matthew Highmore was sent off at 7:13 for high sticking.

And then things exploded at 11:07. It was a free for all on the ice as fists flew on both sides. When the smoke cleared it was Darcy Ashley with four minutes for roughing. Austyn Hardie with a roughing call plus an unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct. Trey Lewis was handed the same Hardie.

Olivier LeBlanc received a roughing penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct during that brawl. Maxime Villemaire took four for roughing and the ever popular unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct.

Matthew Boudreau got a charging call at 13:43 and was followed to the box by teammate Martin Frk as he was sent off for an unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct.

And finally, in true Sea Dog fashion, Ian Saab made one last visit to the box, this time for roughing at 16:30.

Total shots on goal for the game were 46-21, with a final game score of 6-1.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet for Game 4 tomorrow night at 7pm at the Station.

Photo via @Alyssa8713