Highmore, Del Paggio lead Sea Dogs past Foreurs
SAINT JOHN – Matthew Highmore and Daniel Del Paggio each had a goal and an assist to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-3 victory over the Val-d’Or Foreurs Saturday at Harbour Station.
Adam Marsh, Thomas Chabot and Jakub Zboril also scored for Saint John (10-7-1-0), which snapped a three-game losing skid.
Nathan Tremblay led the Val-d’Or (10-7-2-1) offence with two goals while Shawn St-Amant added one.
A complete scoring summary is available HERE.
The Sea Dogs opened the scoring nearly nine minutes into the game when Mathieu Joseph took a shot from the right circle that went off the glove of Foreurs’ goalie Dereck Baribeau and dropped near his feet. Marsh, just off the left of the crease, pounced on the rebound and chipped it into an open net.
The home side doubled its lead six minutes later on a power play.
After Baribeau made an initial stop, the puck was cleared to Chabot at the blueline. The Ottawa Senators’ first-round pick blasted a slap shot that beat the goaltender on his blocker side to make it 2-0 for Saint John.
The Foreurs used a man advantage of their own to get back within one with under three minutes remaining in the period.
Daniel Krenzelok’s shot from the middle of the point was deflected in front of the goal by Tremblay, just inside the right post.
Saint John restored its two-goal advantage fifty seconds into the second when Del Paggio and Nathan Noel had a 2-on-1 inside the Foreurs’ zone. Del Paggio’s pass to Noel in front of the goal was blocked, but he was able the grab the loose puck and tuck it inside the left post to make it a 3-1 game.
Highmore increased the lead to 4-1 with four-and-a-half minutes left in the period, finishing off a scramble in Baribeau’s crease by digging the puck off of the goaltender’s pad, and snapping it inside the right post.
The Foreurs responded a couple of minutes later.
St-Amant darted inside the Saint John zone and picked up a loose puck for a quick chance alone. The Val-d’Or forward deked to his backhand and slipped it over the right pad of goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte.
Saint John led 4-2 after two periods.
The Foreurs closed the gap to one goal again midway through the third during a delayed penalty call against the Saint John.
Following a scramble, Tremblay corralled a loose puck to the left wing side of the crease and lifted a shot over a sprawling Turcotte.
The Saint John goaltender came up with his best stop moments later.
Julien Gauthier, who is considered a top prospect for the 2016 NHL Draft, took a pass in the middle of the Sea Dog zone creating a clear chance. He tried a deke to his backhand, but Turcotte reached to his right and stoned Gauthier with his blocker.
That proved key as Zboril iced the win a minute later with a wrister from the blueline that deflected off a Foreurs’ player and past Baribeau.
Turcotte made 29 saves for Saint John. Baribeau stopped 34 shots in a losing cause.
Highmore was named first star with his goal and two points while Noel had two assists to pick up second star. Tremblay’s two goals made him third star in front of 2,266 fans in attendance.
Saint John’s next game is Wednesday, November 4th, at 8 p.m. against the Sherbrooke Phoenix at Palais de Sports Leopold-Drolet. Listen LIVE on 96.1 NewSong FM or newsongfm.ca. Watch LIVE on theqmjhl.ca.
The Sea Dogs’ next home game is Thursday, November 12th, at 8 p.m. against the Moncton Wildcats at Harbour Station. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station Box Office, online at harbourstation.ca or by calling 657-1234.
