MISSISSAUGA, Ontario- The Saint John Sea Dogs who qualified for the MasterCard Memorial Cup final last night played their last preliminary round game tonight against the Kootenay Ice and lost in overtime 5-4. The Ice recorded their first win of the tournament to keep their chances alive for a trip to the Cup final. Matt Frazer got the game winner on his second goal of the game and team mate Max Reinhart chipped in four assists in the win. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie through the first period as net minder Mathieu Corbeil got his first taste of playoff hockey in goal in major junior hockey. He faced and stopped all 12 Kootenay shots on goal. Corbeil, 19 got the start as Coach Gerard Gallant decided to rest his number one goal tender Jacob DeSerres after his nail biter 3-2 overtime win last night over Owen Sound. Period two saw the scoring drought end and quickly as the teams combined to score four goals in the middle stanza. The Sea Dogs drew first blood as Ryan Tesink hammered home a shot at the 1:26 mark which was set up by Zach Phillips and Gabriel Bourret. The Tesink goal was followed rather quickly by a score firm Tomas Jurco who used a little flip shot to beat Nathan Lieuwen high top shelf. The 2-0 lead from Jurco’s third goal in Cup action came at 5:33 off a setup by Washington Capitals’ prospect Stanislav Galiev. The Sea Dogs could not however protect their lead. Back to back power plays got the Ice back into the game. First the Ice cut the lead in half at 13:13 on a power play goal by Drew Czerwonka. The marker came on a wrap around shot. Sea Dogs’ defenseman Gabriel Bourret was assessed his second penalty in the game a minor for hooking and Czerwonka used assists from James Martin and Max Reinhart to make the score 2-1. Bourret was assessed three minors in last night’s game. Things got worse for Saint John. Two more quick penalties set up a five on three advantage for Kootenay and the lack of discipline cost the Sea Dogs. A delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass and a tripping penalty gave the Ice a blank check and left wing Kevin King cashed it. He deflected an original shot by Brayden McNabb past Corbeil in traffic to tie the score. The secondary assist went to Reinhart who earned his second point of the night. There was no more scoring in the period and the teams went to the dressing rooms tied 2-2. The Ice then made it three unanswered goals in a row early in period thee as Cody Eakin and King combined to set up Jessie Ismond who scored on a rebound. The 3-2 lead was Kootenay first lead in the tournament came just 0:23 into the period. The Kootenay lead didn’t last long. Just 1:47 later Kevin Gagne of the Sea Dogs tied it up 3-3 with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nathan Beaulieu picking up assists. Once again however the Ice quickly regained the lead and did it via a power play. Matt Frazer beat Corbeil in close for the 4-3 lead. Reinhart got his third assist on the night on the goal and McNabb picked up his second helper. Just as it looked as though the Ice had survived, a shot by Phillips of the Sea Dogs hit his team mate Jurco in flush in the head and bounced past Lewis into the net. Phillips had the only assist on the strike which came with 14 seconds remaining in regulation tied the game 4-4 and forced overtime. A turnover at center ice spelled the difference in over time. A St John player cleared the puck out of his zone but on to the stick of Reinhart who passed it to Frazier who ended the contest with his second goal of the game. Reinhart picked up his fourth point in the game on the assist. Next up the Mississauga St. Michael Majors will finish round one play with a game against the Owen Sound Attack. The game’s face off Wednesday night on Hershey Centre ice is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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