Not Pretty But Effective....

It's  not  always about getting shots on net or making that highlight reel play.  It doesn't have to be pretty to be effective. Sometimes  just getting anything near the net will do the trick. That's the gist of an article today in the Telegraph Journal by Scott Briggs, reporting on the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 3-0 blanking of the Drummondville Voltigeurs  Saturday night at Harbour Station. (With the win the Port City squad improved to 32-13-0-2 and now sit two points behind  the Shawinigan Cataractes for the overall lead in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standings.)
The Not So Pretty Goals-

The first was when the Sea Dogs took a 1-0 lead at 10:54 of the first period when Zack Phillips circled behind the net and banked a wraparound backhander off the behind of Volts goalie Domenic Graham. The Dogs went up 2-0 just 49 seconds later on Charlie Coyle’s goal, his second as a  Sea Dog and  it was another goal that came from simply putting the puck in the general vicinity of the net.

Coyle created his own luck by beating Volts defenceman Nikolas Brouillard to a loose puck along the end boards. The Saint John winger didn’t handle the puck, instead firing a backhand pass that hit Graham’s skate and went in the cage.

“That’s something we talked about,’’ Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said about having a more simple approach after Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Shawinigan. “We were over-passing too much (Thursday), but our game is still not there. The last two games, we haven’t played our style of hockey, but we found a way to win tonight.

“We’re going through this (funk) right now and we’re hoping we’re going to get better. I’m not concerned about it, but I’m a bit frustrated. We’re missing our jump. Whether it’s a couple of good, hard skates in practice or whatever, we’ve had a lot of guys coming back to our team (from tournaments like the world juniors and world under-17 tournament). I hate making excuses, but we haven’t had guys playing together a whole lot (lately).’’

Saint John’s third and final goal was another example of shooting without trying to be too fancy. Defenceman Pierre Durepos drifted a shot from the right point that went through traffic and past Graham at 14:20 of the second period, essentially putting the contest out of reach for Drummondville.

Sea Dogs netminder Sebastien Auger made 28 saves to register his first career QMJHL shutout. The rookie from St. Augustin de Desmaures, Que., was busiest in the second period, turning aside 14 shots. The 17-year-old stopped seven pucks in both the first and third frames.

“The guys played very well defensively and I just had to make a couple of good saves,’’ Auger said, downplaying his best performance of the season. “I want to build on this and I’ll continue (to work). I didn’t put pressure on myself. It was another game and I had to contribute.’’

Gallant was more direct about the goalie’s performance.

“He battled and he made some good saves,’’ the bench boss said. “We’re real happy for him.’’
The Sea Dogs don't play again until Saturday night when they face the Halifax Mooseheads and phenom Nathan MacKinnon at Harbour Station.