TIGRES BRING SEA DOGS STREAK TO AN END
Saturday, February 26, 2011
VICTORIAVILLE, Que. – The Victoriaville Tigres handed the Saint John Sea Dogs their first loss in regulation time of 2011, hanging on for a 2-1 win Friday.
Philippe Maillet and Pier-Luc Pelletier scored for Victoriaville to build a 2-0 lead, and Antonio Mastropietro made it stand with a 25-save performance in goal.
Mike Thomas had the lone goal for Saint John and Mathieu Corbeil made 21 saves in a losing cause.
Saint John fell to 50-6-1-2 as they lost their first game in regulation since Dec. 30, bringing to an end the team’s 15-game winning streak and 21-0-1 run. Victoriaville improved to 33-24-1-3.
Click HERE for a complete scoresheet from Saturday’s game.
The Sea Dogs arrived in town at nearly 3 a.m. for the 4 p.m. game, and were facing a team that has shown a knack for taking down favoured opponents. The Tigres also ended the 12-game undefeated run in regulation time put together by the Quebec Remparts to start the season. Saint John regulars Nathan Beaulieu and Stephen MacAulay were rested, along with rookie forward Scott Oke.
Victoriaville’s first goal, at 12:12 of the first period, may have been a sign that luck was in the home team’s favour. The puck bounced off a skate in front and came to Maillet, who threw it along the ice and past a surprised Corbeil for his 29th of the year.
The Tigres added to their lead 29 seconds into the second. Brandon Hynes fired a cross-ice saucer pass from the right wing and Pelletier one-timed it out of the air. Corbeil made the first save but the rebound came right back to Pelletier, who finished his sixth of the season to make it 2-0.
Sea Dogs coach Gerard Gallant juggled the lines in the second period and the team seemed to respond. Jason Cameron delivered a solid hit on Hynes to force an offside in the seventh minute. Shortly thereafter, Thomas scored off a faceoff to Mastropietro’s right, taking a feed from the left-wing corner by Michael Kirkpatrick in front and roofing it. The goal, the 13th of the year for Thomas, came at 6:44 of the second.
The Sea Dogs had a great chance to tie with less than two minutes remaining in the second period. Gabriel Bourret’s shot almost bounced in behind Mastropietro, then Zack Phillips had an incredible chance in front stopped before play collapsed in a goalmouth scrum. Huberdeau had another good chance in the dying seconds, but Mastropietro made the 2-1 score stand into the second intermission, despite the Sea Dogs outshooting Victoriaville 23-13 through two.
Both teams had power plays late in the third period. Steven Anthony was assessed a goaltender interference penalty with 6:37 to go after being pushed into Mastropietro. The Sea Dogs managed to kill that one off, then got a man advantage of their own with 4:25 remaining on a tripping call to Pelletier, but were unable to convert.
Benjamin Laliberte then got a great chance at even strength with about two minutes to go, but put a rebound wide with plenty of net to shoot at. That kept Saint John’s hopes alive, and Gallant called a timeout with 55.4 seconds to play and a faceoff to Mastropietro’s right. The Sea Dogs, however, were unable to get one past Mastropietro in the final minute as the Tigres held on for the 2-1 win and streamed off the bench, knocking over the net as though celebrating a championship.
The Sea Dogs wrap up their road trip against the Shawinigan Cataractes at 5 p.m. Atlantic Time Sunday. Tim Roszell will have the call on News 88.9 FM Fans can also catch all the action online via the official TELUS QMJHL webcast (click HERE to order; charges apply).
Saint John’s next home game is March 4 against the Moncton Wildcats, where the Brunswick News Rivalry Cup will be presented to the Sea Dogs for the first time. Tickets can be obtained by calling the Harbour Station box office at (506) 657-1234, or by visiting www.tickets.harbourstation.ca. The Sea Dogs would like to remind fans holding flex tickets to cash them in soon to avoid being disappointed by waiting until the last minute. These tickets do not carry over to playoffs and are redeemed on a first come, first served basis.
