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Post by major on Feb 21, 2008 0:12:26 GMT -4
No clear cut winner there it was a draw.
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Post by dogcatcher on Feb 21, 2008 7:25:16 GMT -4
WILDCATS SHOCK SEA DOGS IN OVERTIME
Moncton Earns Comeback 2-1 Victory over Saint John; Saint John Remains atop QMJHL East Division Standings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
MONCTON, NB --- On the strength of a 26-save performance from goaltender Nicolas Riopel and some incredible late-game heroics by Zach Sill and Andrew Eastman, the Moncton Wildcats handed the Saint John Sea Dogs a 2-1 OT defeat on Wednesday night, scoring in the final minute of regulation to tie the match at one apiece prior to earning a sudden-death win 2:11 into overtime.
Despite the loss, Saint John remains in sole possession of first place in the QMJHL East, currently owning a one-point lead over the Halifax Mooseheads, who defeated the PEI Rocket by a score of 5-1 Wednesday night.
Birthday boy Chris DiDomenico scored Saint John’s lone marker, while Zach Sill replied for Moncton in the sixtieth minute of play. Andrew Eastman scored the game-winning goal exactly three minutes later to earn Moncton a dramatic come-from-behind victory in front of their home crowd.
Riverview, NB native Travis Fullerton played incredibly well for Saint John during the mid-week summit, making 29 saves on 31 shots to earn a single point for his team. The 20-year old is now 20-14 on the season following the hard-fought defeat.
After the first half of the opening period saw and some solid two-way play from both teams and some fantastic scoring chances at either end of the ice, Steven Anthony very nearly produced the first goal of the game in the twelfth minute of play, firing a one-timer from inside the slot that Riopel managed to get a pad on to keep things tied 0-0.
A late period power play opportunity for Saint John also failed to yield any quantitative results, as Moncton’s employ of an aggressive fore-check was effective in the early going in preventing the visitors from establishing an efficient breakout.
Both goalies played well throughout the opening frame, as Riopel turned aside all ten shots fired upon him while Fullerton made nine saves on as many shots.
The second period saw a continuation of the defensive mode of play which defined the first as both well-coached teams played their systems impeccably well.
During a Wildcats power play, Fullerton came up with a big stop on a snap shot by Jesse Biduke to keep Moncton from converting on their first man-up opportuinity of the evening.
With 3:28 remaining in the middle frame, some stellar cycling of the puck by Saint John’s forwards in Moncton’s zone produced the game’s first goal, as Chris DiDomenico took a pass from Keven Charland and fired a low shot to the back of the Wildcats net, earning his 36th goal of the season and putting the Sea Dogs up 1-0.
Another huge save by Fullerton, this time on a Matthew Brenton breakaway, preserved the 1-0 lead for the Sea Dogs as Wednesday night’s contest reached the second intermission.
At the 3:23 mark of the third period, a pair of heavyweights squared off near the Moncton blue line, as Brett Gallant and Kelan Herr traded punches in a marathon of a bout, with both fighters landing some solid punches en route to producing an exhaustive draw, as each player entered the penalty box in utter exhaustion after the lengthy bout.
Near the midway point of regulation’s final frame, DiDomenico came within inches of scoring for the second time on his 19th birthday, firing a shot wide of the net from a sharp angle while Riopel was badly out of position during a Saint John power play.
With 4:05 remaining in the third, the Wildcats went on their third power play of the night, and they fought vigorously to produce the tying goal, firing several shots upon the Sea Dogs’ veteran goalie that were all turned aside with machine-like precision as the intra-provincial showdown reached the home stretch with the visitors leading by a single tally.
At the other end of the ice, Scott Howes rang a backhand shot off of the left post of Moncton’s net, very nearly clinching a victory for Saint John with ninety-four seconds remaining on the clock.
Howes’ miss proved costly, as forty seconds later, with their goaltender on the bench in favour of an extra attacker the Wildcats were able to bang home the equalizer, as Zach Sill pounced on a loose puck and snuck a high shot past a sprawling Fullerton to make the score 1-1 at the 59:11 mark of the game.
In the third minute of play in the extra frame, a wrist shot off the stick of Andrew Eastman beat Fullerton high, blocker side to deliver an unlikely victory for the host squad.
Up next for Saint John is a Friday night contest versus the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre. The Sea Dogs’ next home game will take place on Sunday afternoon versus the Lewiston MAINEiacs.
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Post by dogcatcher on Feb 21, 2008 7:27:23 GMT -4
Late goal costs Sea Dogs road win
Hockey Defensive breakdown lets Moncton tie game with 49 seconds left and then win it in overtime
Andrew McGilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Thursday February 21st, 2008
Appeared on page B7
SAINT JOHN - It was a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Wednesday against the Moncton Wildcats in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Saint John goaltender Travis Fullerton was 49 seconds away from his first shutout as a Sea Dog, but Moncton tied the game in the final minute and eventually won in overtime.
Andrew Eastman scored the winner while Zach Sill had the other Wildcats goal. Chris DiDomenico had the lone Saint John marker.
Captain Alex Grant said it was a hard loss to swallow.
"(Travis) was unbelievable tonight and it was just too bad we didn't get the job done in front of him in the last minute," Grant said.
The Sea Dogs had the best chance to score in the opening minutes of the first period. A great breakout pass from Keven Charland sent Di Domenico and Ryan Sparling on a two-on-one. Di Domenico fed a pass that was one-timed by Sparling, but Wildcats starter Nicola Riopel dove across the net to get a stick on the shot.
At the other end, Saint John netminder Fullerton was just as good, robbing Cody Wilson on a point-blank shot from the slot.
After spending much of the second half of the season on the fourth line, rookie Steven Anthony was promoted to the second with Alexandre Picard and Scott Howes. The trio generated good pressure and chances in the first with Anthony just missing a goal.
Charland almost opened the scoring in the final minute, but was denied in the slot by the left pad of Riopel.
Both goaltenders were solid in the first, keeping the game scoreless.
The Wildcats got their first power play opportunity at 6:39 of the second period. Matt Brown had a great chance when he broke in on Fullerton all alone, but fired his shot over the net. The Sea Dogs penalty kill has cost them games as of late, but the special teams unit looked solid on its first test of the night.
Anthony almost broke the deadlock late in the second when he batted at a rebound from the side of the goal, but the puck rolled through the crease and out of danger.
The Sea Dogs finally broke through at 16:32 of the middle frame. After sustaining good pressure in the Moncton zone, Charland slipped a pass between a defenceman's legs to Di Domenico, who fired it by Riopel 1-0 lead.
Fullerton preserved the lead in the final minutes of the second when he stoned Matthew Brenton's breakaway chance.
The second ended with Saint John up 1-0.
The third period started with a fight between Brett Gallant and Kelan Herr. The marathon bout saw both players land big shots and brought the crowd to its feet.
The Wildcats would not be denied in the third and tied the game late. After Fullerton made the initial save, Sill pounced on a rebound to tie the game 1-1 and send the contest into overtime.
The Wildcats completed the late comeback when Eastman let a wrist shot go from the top of the circle that found the top corner to seal the 2-1 Moncton win.
Despite the loss, Saint John head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu liked the effort from his squad.
"I thought we played a good road game, a damn good road game," Beaulieu. "We missed an assignment late in the third and (Fullerton) didn't make the save in overtime."
With the loss the Sea Dogs record falls to 36-17-3-3.
Saint John travels to Bathurst on Friday to take on the Titan at 7:30 p.m.
STUDENT: Sea Dogs forward Keven Charland is one of five finalists for the Marcel-Robert trophy awarded to the scholastic player of the year. Charland will travel to Montreal on March 3 for an interview that will measure analytical skills, knowledge of current events and performance during the interview. The other four finalists include Marc-Andre Doiron of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Robert Slaney of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll of the Shawinigan Cataractes and Samuel Richard of the Val-d'Or Foreurs.
OUT: Three QMJHL teams are in the Canadian Hockey League Top 10, but Saint John is not one of them. The Sea Dogs fell off the list this week after a pair of home losses. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are the top QMJHL team in seventh followed by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in eighth and the Gatineau Olympiques in 10th.
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Post by canucklehead on Feb 21, 2008 7:52:00 GMT -4
There is no way with those 2 chuckin em like that either can be called a winner they both threw a ton of punches that was just a good solid fight for both guys! Did you not see Gallant fist close-up on cam, it was cut from hitting herr's helmet, and herr landed a few more than Gallant........definately not a draw. ;D This from someone that was at the game, not watching on cam! Keep dreaming! |
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Post by knight on Feb 21, 2008 8:06:34 GMT -4
Watched the video ,good showing by Herr but Gallant controlled the fight from start to finnish.Threw more and landed the hardest blows. Funny listen to the anounser Gallant would land 3 shots to Herrs 1 and he would be talking about Herrs . Good fight but call it was it was. Thanks for the video. |
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Post by CatsFan on Feb 21, 2008 10:56:53 GMT -4
Who is Nicolas Riopel?  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2008 12:28:25 GMT -4
That fight was a draw................ no advantage by either player unless you score the take down as a victory. Impressive showing by Herr in this one, good long fight with both guys out of gas at the end. Your not serious,definite win Herr,even Gallant knew he got beat in this one Herr didn't stand up to him...kept hidding his face not to get hit  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2008 12:29:35 GMT -4
Did you not see Gallant fist close-up on cam, it was cut from hitting herr's helmet, and herr landed a few more than Gallant........definately not a draw. ;D This from someone that was at the game, not watching on cam! Keep dreaming! What else could he hit...his head was always turned the other way  |
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Post by fbr2075 on Feb 21, 2008 12:31:46 GMT -4
Well I was the one challenge and when I accepted to go outside they wanted nothing to do with it. The Cats fans learned alot from their Captain run your mouth then hide......  I'll tell ya what skipper, your fans at Harbour Station are no angels either, I attended the last game the Cats played at Harbour Station. I cheered for Sill when he tuned Grant and I could hear around me remarks such as Moncton A$$hole etc, I cheered on all the Moncton goals, hell I cheered when the Sea Dogs scored a nice goal, but you could still hear the remarks, thankfully I'm big enough and ugly enough that none were said directly to me, but being the only Moncton fan in that section, it wasn't hard to figure who they were meant for, and these wernt teenagers making the remarks, they were people in the 35 - 50 age group. At least the fans in Moncton had the guts to say it to your face and not turn red and look away when confronted. So before you slam the Moncton fans clean your own barn up first,,,,,,,, skipper. |
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Post by bjindaho on Feb 21, 2008 13:12:16 GMT -4
are you kowalski? really now, who calls people "skipper"?
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Post by habh8er on Feb 21, 2008 13:53:31 GMT -4
I have to admit that I didn't see the whole game in it's entirety, however I did see most of it so.....
The fight was a draw in my mind, and I'm sure that if you asked Herr he would be happy with that as he was beaten clearly by Gallant here at the Station, so a draw is an improvement for him. Thanks for posting it so quickly Killer, I was out of the room when the fight started, so I went to the computer to watch it (radio is about a min. ahead) and turned the monitor so we all could see it and pulled the plug out of the power bar...by the time I figured what the hell I had done it was over.
The lines.... what's up with this? Seemed every time I looked there were different guys playing on different lines. Don't know if this was by design to get different players used to playing together before playoffs in case of injurys, but it's not working and is starting to bring us down in my opinion. There has been much said about us needing a pure checking line and I agree, but with the parts we have where do you juggle it up. I would like to see the lines like this..
Liske, Didomenico, Sparling
Howes, Hooper, Charland
Gauthier, Kirkpatrick, Leduc
Thomas, Anthony, Stoddard or(Gallant)
Grant, Sauve
Despres, Amyot
Stich, McNeil
I thought the Defence played a better game last night but their still not playing as tough as they have to to get the job done.. Stich with 5 (gh) Amyot with 1 and Despres with 1 isn't near enough, unless the scorekeepers missed a lot which didn't seem to be the case from what I could see.
Special Teams were 0/3 for both sides, so I guess that says a lot right there. Were both penalty kills good, or were both power plays bad?
I would like to see a lot more effort than we are getting lately, at this time of year we should be on top of our game and not being beaten by the last place team in the division. But maybe they are fooling us all and just playing possum until the end of the season and saving themselves for the playoffs....wishfull thinking on my part I would guess.
The goaltending looked to be good by both guys and I sure it must have been with them both being named stars of the game, however the O.T. goal looked a bit suspect on the webcast...I'm sure Fullerton would like to have that one back. Good game from Riopel after not playing for a while. He had something to prove...and he suceeded in doing so with a first star selection.
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