BEAULIEU COMPLETES COMEBACK OVER CATARACTES
December 3, 2011
SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs stormed back from a two-goal deficit to best the Shawinigan Cataractes 3-2 in overtime Saturday.
Nathan Beaulieu fired home the winner after goals by Oliver Cooper and Zack Phillips drew the Sea Dogs even. Mathieu Corbeil made 37 saves for the win. It was the 15th straight home victory for the Sea Dogs, who remain first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at 25-7-0-1. Phillips extended his team-record points streak to 21 games, the longest in the league this season.
Max Le Sieur and Michael Bournival scored for Shawinigan and Gabriel Girard made 29 saves in the loss.
Click HERE to view a complete scoresheet from Friday’s game. For interviews and highlights, visit Sea Dogs TV, the team’s official YouTube channel.
The first power play of the game went to the Sea Dogs, but Shawinigan almost scored a short-handed marker when a forechecking Felix-Antoine Bergeron intercepted a Corbeil clearance. Bergeron blindly threw the puck along the ice toward the unguarded cage and it skittered just wide.
It was a back-and-forth first period with chances at both ends, but Le Sieur tallied the opening marker at 16:04, burying a rebound after an outstanding save by Corbeil.
Saint John had a couple of chances to equalize late in the frame. With just over a minute to go, Stephen MacAulay found Cooper out front with a pinpoint feed from behind the net, but Girard denied the rookie. Tomas Jurco and Phillips then had a chance on a 2-on-1 in the dying seconds, but again Girard shut the door.
The Sea Dogs got into penalty trouble early in the second period, with Charles Roussel sent off for hooking at 1:45 and Beaulieu for high-sticking at 2:26. The Dogs were six seconds from killing the first penalty when Bournival took a pass to Corbeil’s left on his backhand and deftly switched to the forehand to find the back of the net and make it 2-0.
The Cataractes thought they had another goal on a goalmouth scramble shortly thereafter, but a long video review confirmed that the puck stayed out of the net.
The Dogs had a power-play chance of their own when Dillon Donnelly was called for hooking at 4:45 and generated several opportunities. Danick Gauthier may have had the best when, parked to Girard’s left, he corralled a Phillips rebound off the back boards, but he couldn’t switch to his forehand in time. The Sea Dogs whistled a handful of shots just wide, and just as the penalty expired MacAulay made a nice feed to Roussel, whose shot generated a big rebound. But the play was whistled down to boos from the Harbour Station fans as the referee apparently lost sight of the puck.
Saint John finally broke through on Cooper’s goal at 12:49 of the second. Stephen Anderson deflected an Ian Saab pass into the zone, Scott Oke won a puck battle behind the net and threaded the needle to Cooper in front. The rookie got the puck upstairs in a hurry for his eighth of the year to make it 2-1.
Corbeil made several solid saves to keep it that way late in the middle frame. He denied Bournival on a 2-on-1, standing his ground to bat away the Colorado Avalanche prospect’s wrist shot with his left arm. The 20-year-old goalie also kicked out two nice pad stops in the final two minutes.
Girard, his overage counterpart at the other end, was sharp as well. After Jurco fluttered a backhand pass to Gauthier on the left wing, Girard turned away his shot with the glove hand.
Phillips scored the tying goal at 4:42 of the third. After a great keep-in by Kevin Gagne at the left point, he got to puck to Jurco in the right-wing corner. Jurco fed Phillips in the high slot and he rang a shot off the post and crossbar for his 17th of the year, extending his points streak to 21 games.
Corbeil made sure the game got to overtime, robbing Kirill Kabanov with the paddle as he sprawled to his left with about six and a half minutes to go. He also benefited from a little luck when Anton Zlobin fired a shot off the post with five minutes left.
In overtime, Peter Sakaris took a penalty for goaltender interference when he tripped up Corbeil, setting up a 4-on-3 power play. The Dogs took advantage, when Beaulieu’s point shot found its way through at 1:57 of the extra frame. Danick Gauthier picked up the lone assist on the goal, Beaulieu’s eighth.
Saint John plays the second of four straight home games Sunday against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (3 p.m.) Jersey auctions from the Memorial Cup championship team continue with the sweaters of Scott Oke (No. 15), Gabriel Bourret (No. 5) and Alexandre Beauregard (No. 25) up for bid. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station box office, by calling 506-657-1234 or online at www.tickets.harbourstation.ca.
