Quick-strike offence leads Sea Dogs past Screaming Eagles
SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs scored three times in just over eleven minutes of play in the first period on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Friday at Harbour Station.
Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph paced the Saint John (13-9-1-0) offence, each netting a shorthanded goal and an assist. Joe Veleno, Dan Del Paggio and Sam Povorozniouk also scored.
Maxim Lazarev replied for Cape Breton (10-11-3-0), which have lost three straight games.
A complete scoring summary is available HERE.
The Screaming Eagles had the first good scoring chance of the game nearly three minutes in.
Russian sniper Evgeny Svechnikov took a pass in the middle of the slot during a 3-on-2 and attempted a deke to his backhand, but Saint John goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made the save on his stick side and smothered the rebound.
The Sea Dogs opened the scoring about a minute later when Adam Bateman took a wrist shot from the right circle that Veleno redirected off the glove of Cape Breton goalie Kyle Jessiman and in on the short side.
Saint John doubled its advantage with a shorthanded goal five minutes later.
Former Sea Dog captain Oliver LeBlanc’s pass in the neutral zone was picked off by Chabot. The Ottawa Senators’ 2015 first-round selection raced in alone, deked to his backhand and slid the puck between the legs of Jessiman.
It became a three-goal game past the eleven-minute mark when Joseph flipped a shot from the right circle that bounced into Jessiman’s pads. The rookie netminder could not control the rebound, allowing Del Paggio to bunt the puck inside the right post.
Jessiman was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots. He was replaced by Alexandre Belanger.
The visitors responded just 18 seconds after the change in goal.
Svechnikov ripped a shot from the left wing that went off Turcotte’s glove and high in the air, dropping into the right circle. Lazarev whistled a low wrist shot through the legs of the goalie to reduce Saint John’s lead to 3-1.
The Sea Dogs restored their three-goal edge thanks to some fancy footwork from Chabot.
After taking a drop pass from Povorozniouk at the left point, Chabot danced around Svechnikov in the left circle and rifled a pass into the low slot where American forward completed the unconventional give-and-go with a tap-in.
Saint John got into penalty trouble midway through the third period after back-to-back calls to Joseph and Bokondji Imama – the latter, a major penalty for a check to the head of Svechnikov.
The Sea Dogs were down two men for 55 seconds but killed off the initial call. That set the stage for Joseph, fresh out of the penalty box, to round out the scoring.
Matthew Highmore intercepted a pass on the left side of his own zone and got help from Joseph in clearing the puck to neutral ice. Joseph, the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, sped to the loose puck and charged in on a breakaway, beating Belanger with a deke to his stick side for Saint John’s second shorthanded goal of the night.
Turcotte snared the victory and a third-star selection with 29 stops in the Saint John goal.
Jessiman took the loss with four saves on seven shots in just over eleven minutes of work. Belanger turned aside 16 shots in relief.
Chabot’s two points made him first star. Veleno’s goal and five shots merited second-star honours in front of 3,472 fans in attendance.
The Sea Dogs’ next game is Saturday, November 14th, at 7 p.m. against the Halifax Mooseheads at Scotiabank Centre. Listen LIVE on 96.1 NewSong FM or newsongfm.ca. Watch LIVE on theqmjhl.ca.
Saint John’s next home game is Thursday, November 26th, at 7 p.m. against the Quebec Remparts at Harbour Station. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station Box Office, online at harbourstation.ca or by calling 657-1234.
