Cataractes Top Sea Dogs.....

The Shawinigan Cataractes came out on top with a 4-1 win over the Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs as the teams battled for the second time in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season Thursday.  These teams will meet two more times this season in Shawinigan.

Despite some nasty weather outside, a crowd of 4,065 at Harbour Station watched the new Sea Dogs acquisition Charlie Coyle make an immediate impact by scoring his first QMJHL goal, but that was all the offence the Sea Dogs could muster for a record of  31-13-0-2.  Jonathan Huberdeau finished with an assist to extend his points streak to 10 games. Mathieu Corbeil made 22 saves in the loss.

Peter Sakaris had two goals, and Michael Chaput and Michael Bournival also tallied for the Cataractes. Gabriel Girard stopped 29 shots for the win as Shawinigan climbed to 30-10-2-2 and evened the season series at a game apiece.

Post Game Quotes-
Brandon Gormley

“There’s no better time to test yourselves than against one of the best teams in the league,’’ said Gormley, acquired in a blockbuster deal with the Moncton Wildcats on Jan. 7. “It was great to see the way we responded. We just have to prepare the way we did today and we should be fine.’’

Sea Dogs Coach Gerard Gallant

“We didn’t click at all tonight,’’ Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said. “We played OK in the first period, but we didn’t capitalize on our power plays (0-for-6) and I thought our work ethic was awful. We just didn’t meet the challenge and they took over the game in the second and third periods, and we didn’t have much pushback. That was pretty hard to believe from our team.

“I just thought we played too much as individuals and we had no get-up-and-go. They came in here and played a good game. I didn’t like my team one bit.’’

Game Summary-

1st Period-

1, Shawinigan, Chaput 11 (Kabanov, Veilleux), 7:40. 2, Saint John, Coyle 1 (Huberdeau, Phillips), 10:33. Penalties-

Maynard Sha (holding), 8:16; served by Kabanov Sha (too many men on the ice), 12:10; Zlobin Sha (tripping), 14:49; Roussel Snb (tripping), 15:53.

2nd  Period-

3, Shawinigan, Sakaris 15 (Zlobin, Bournival), 18:50.

Penalties-

Arseneau Sha (roughing), 6:31; Morin Sha (roughing), 6:31; Huberdeau Snb (roughing), 6:31; MacDonald Snb (roughing), 6:31; Chaput Sha (roughing), 6:54; Racine Sha (slashing), 13:56.

3rd  Period-

4, Shawinigan, Sakaris 16 (Bournival, Zlobin), 0:26. 5, Shawinigan, Bournival 17 (Maynard), 16:48. Penalties

Arseneau Sha (tripping), 13:33; Narbonne Sha (fighting, fight in the final 5 minutes of regulation time, or anytime of the overtime - game misconduct), 18:32; McGuigan Snb (fighting, fight in the final 5 minutes of regulation time, or anytime of the overtime - game misconduct), 18:32.

Shots-Shawinigan 26. Saint John 30.
Power Play Opportunities-Shawinigan 0 of 1; Saint John 0 of 6.
Goalies-
Shawinigan, Girard 13-3-1-0 (30 shots-29 saves).
Saint John, Corbeil 25-9-0-0 (26 shots-22 saves).