Sea Dogs Get Past Will the Wall...

It was no easy feat for the Saint John Sea Dogs to get a puck past Moncton Wildcats 19-year-old Czech netminder Roman Will who until the last 8.5 seconds of the third period was  unbeatable. The only goal in Saint John’s 1-0 victory came when Nathan Beaulieu fired a waist-high wrister that was tipped out of the air and into the net by Tomas Jurco with 8.5 seconds left, thrilling 4,265 fans Thursday night at Harbour Station.

“It was lucky, but I didn’t have luck the whole game and I couldn’t score,’’ Jurco said minutes after the decisive marker reported in the Telegraph Journal. “(Will) was great tonight, it was so hard to beat him. When you’re playing good (early in the game), you get confidence and that’s what he had the whole game.’’

The Dogs improved to 35-13-0-2 and Saint John goalie Mathieu Corbeil made 20 saves for his 5th shut out of the season.   Roman Will made 45 saves in a losing cause and was named first star for the Wildcats, who fell to 22-21-3-2.

Saint John earned four points in the Brunswick News Rivalry Cup: three for the regulation win and one for breaking the 4,000-fan mark with a crowd of 4,265. The Sea Dogs now hold a 14.5-11.5 edge in the Rivalry Cup standings.

Game Notes:

The Dogs held the  edge in the first period, coming closest when Pierre Durepos’ point shot went off the post during a power play. It was good news/bad news for Saint John winger Ryan Tesink, appearing in his first game in nearly two months due to a knee injury. Tesink was slapped with a stiff sentence late in the period– two minutes for roughing, another two for unsportsmanlike conduct and a game misconduct for abuse of an official. Moncton failed to capitalize on the extended power play that carried into the second period. Shortly after the missed opportunity, the Wildcats took two undisciplined penalties. Devon MacAusland was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 4:01 and Patrick Downe was sent off for checking from behind seven seconds later.

The Dogs got plenty of shots on net, but none could beat Will, whose best stop came when he blocked Beaulieu’s one-timer from the slot. With 5:51 left in the middle session, Beaulieu was called for delay of game after his clearing attempt from his own zone went over the glass.

Despite being shorthanded, the Dogs had the best scoring chance as Will came up big on Danick Gauthier’s breakaway bid. Gauthier had another decent chance before the power play expired for Moncton, which failed to produce any serious offensive threat.

Moncton’s Ryan Penny was called for high-sticking at 17:35 of the second stanza, but the Dogs came up empty on the  power play despite some quality shots. The game remained scoreless through 40 minutes thanks to Will, who’d made 34 saves to that point.

Corbeil had faced just nine shots when he stepped on the ice to begin the third period. But the 20-year-old was busy early in the final frame, delivering successive saves on Marek Hrivik and MacAusland.

“We had so many shots and you have to give credit to (Will),’’ Beaulieu said. “We had a lot of opportunities to bury it and we didn’t. It was a tough play for the goalie, but a great tip. There were lots of positives that came out of this game and I really feel like we deserved those two points.’’
Three Stars of the Game:
1. MON -Roman Will

2. SNB - Danick Gauthier
3. SNB - Tomas Jurco
The Sea Dogs take to the ice again on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station hosting the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.