AUGER SUPERB AS SEA DOGS SHUT OUT FOREURS

VAL-D’OR, PQ – Sebastien Auger made 53 stops, including 24 in the third period, leading the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 2-0 victory over the Val-d’Or Foreurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday at Centre Air Creebec.

It’s Auger’s second shutout in six days and the fourth of his career. It’s also the 50th win all-time, which ties Mathieu Corbeil for most career regular season victories by a goalie in Saint John Sea Dogs history. 

Mathieu Joseph scored his first career QMJHL goal for Saint John (16-30-1-3), while Oliver Cooper buried an empty-netter in the final thirty seconds.

The Foreurs (31-18-1-1) have lost two of their last three games. 

A complete game summary can be found HERE.

Saint John had the game’s first offensive chance just a minute in when forward Nathan Noel held the puck on a 2-on-1 and fired a shot from the left wing that Val-d’Or goalie Antoine Bibeau turned aside with his blocker. 

Auger, the third-year Sea Dogs’ keeper, showed he was ready for game action a couple of minutes later.

Foreurs’ winger and league-leading scorer Anthony Mantha stole the puck to the right of the goaltender and fed Pierre-Maxime Poudrier, who ripped a one-time snap shot that Auger snagged out of the air with his glove hand. 

Late in the period, Foreurs’ blueliner Guillaume Gelinas danced around the Sea Dogs’ zone before settling at the left point and firing a hard wrister off the tip of Auger’s glove and wide of the goal.

Seconds after that, Mantha took a pass at the Saint John line and wired a slap shot that Auger squeezed between his pads. 

Val-d’Or outshot Saint John 18-11 in a scoreless first period.

Auger continued his magic seven minutes into the second. 

Louick Marcotte grabbed the puck in a scramble, danced between the Saint John defence and deked to his forehand side, only to have the 19-year-old native of St-Augustin-de-Desmaures deny him with his left foot.

The Sea Dogs broke the ice midway through the frame on the power play. 

Thomas Chabot’s shot from the point deflected past the goal to Bibeau’s right. The rebound came to the side of the net and was chopped into the crease where Joseph poked it into an open cage for his first career goal.

Auger kept the one-goal lead intact with a right pad save off a deflection by Foreurs forward Anthony Beauregard with five minutes left in the period. 

Val-d’Or’s Anthony Richard broke loose in the final minute for a clear chance, but his backhanded deke met Auger’s left pad.

The Sea Dogs led 1-0 after two periods even though they were outshot 11-9 in the middle frame. 

Saint John hung on in the third, and relied on their reigning MVP in doing so.

The Foreurs peppered the Saint John goal with shots, and their best opportunities came late in the game. 

With about four minutes to go, Richard ripped a long, high wrist shot that Auger caught with his glove hand.

Richard, the talented second-year centreman, got another breakaway a minute later, but Auger used his blocker to send the puck into the corner. 

The Foreurs pulled Bibeau for an extra attacker with less than two minutes remaining.

Saint John’s Spencer Smallman helped create a turnover in the Sea Dogs’ zone and Matthew Highmore fed Cooper at centre ice. The team’s scoring leader iced the win with an empty-net goal with 23.1 seconds left. It was the team’s only shot in the third period. 

Auger secured his second shutout in less than a week with a glove stop off Shawn St-Amant with 3.5 seconds left on the clock.

Val-d’Or outshot Saint John 24-1 in the third. 

Auger was named first star while Joseph took second star honours with what proved to be the game-winning goal. Richard secured third star for Val-d’Or in front of 1,685 fans in attendance.

The game was the 600th in franchise history. Saint John earned its 310th win.

The Sea Dogs wrap up their final Quebec road trip of the regular season on Saturday, February 1st, at 8 p.m. against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at Iamgold Arena. Listen LIVE on News 88.9 FM. Watch LIVE on TELUS (via theqmjhl.ca – fee applies). 

Saint John’s next home game is Friday, February 7th, at 7:30 p.m. against the Rimouski Oceanic. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station box office, online at tickets.harbourstation.ca, or by calling 657-1234.