MISSISSAUGA, Ontario- Jonathan Huberdeau scored the sudden death winning goal 17:35 into overtime to defeat the Owen Sound Attack 3-2 while clinching a berth in the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup championship game. The anticipated Cup matchup tonight between the Saint John Sea Dogs representing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League playoff champs the Owen Sound Attack lived up to expectations.
The Memorial Cup is emblematic of junior hockey supremacy in the Canadian Hockey League which is made up of the top three junior leagues in Canada. The playoff champions from the Quebec Major Junior League (QMJHL) the Saint John Sea Dogs, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Owen Sound Attack and the Western Hockey League (WHL) Kootenay Ice are squaring off with the host team Mississauga in the 93rd edition of the Memorial Cup.
Owen Sound jumped out to the lead in period one when defenseman Matt Petgrave opened the scoring at 6:36 as Andrew Shaw lofted a wrist shot towards the goal that deflected off Petgrave’s stick into the Saint John net. Shaw then picked up his second point of the game this time on a power play goal at 14:23 less than a minute after Saint John defenseman Gabriel Bourret was sent off for hooking. Shaw’s goal came on a tip-in and ran the score to 2-0. Bourret may have liked the penalty box décor as he was destined to revisit the box multiple times in the game.
Meanwhile Owen Sound net minder Jordan Binnington stopped a flurry of 14 Sea Dogs’ shots to protect the 2-0 lead going into the first intermission. Jacob DeSerres between the pipes for the Sea Dogs saw 13 shots in the period.
The two teams’ traded early opportunities in the second stanza as both drew penalties and benefited with power play opportunities. However, neither team could score until Saint John cut the lead in half with a power play goal. Forward Tomas Jurco barely missed a goal a few seconds before he regained possession and setup Moscow native Stanislav Galiev with a beautiful pass from the deep corner. Galiev buried the power play marker at 13:49 of period two and the Sea Dogs were suddenly back in the game trailing 2-1 with apparent momentum.
The momentum was short lived however as two straight penalties gave Owen Sound a five on three man advantage. Shortly after Bourret picked up his third minor of the night at 14:10 defenseman Simon Despres was also whistled off for this third minor at 15:03 setting up the Attack’s two man advantage. Owen Sound could not however cash in and the teams skated off for the second intermission with the 2-0 score holding.
The third period began with the Sea Dogs picking up their fifth power play opportunity of the game just 1:46 into the third stanza but they couldn’t cash in. The Sea Dogs dominated much of the third period action and had multiple scoring chances but they were having trouble finding the net. Also once again however their momentum was slowed by their seventh penalty of the game.
A retaliatory action by Galiev drew a two minute assessment for boarding mid way in the period. However, the Attack like the Sea Dogs earlier also failed to seize the opportunity in front of the Hershey Centre full house crowd of 5,429. The successful penalty kill seemed to invigorate Saint John as they began to push up ice and flood their offensive goal to gain the tying goal as time ticked off.
Bennington continued to stonewall the Sea Dogs calmly handling the pressure and protecting his net until Tomas Jurco lofted a shot from a nearly impossible angle chipping the puck over the glove hand of Binnington. The goal drew helpers from Eric Gelinas and Zack Phillips. The tying goal came with just under three and a half minutes left in regulation and eventually sent the game into sudden death overtime.
The extra period was a tense back and forth affair as both teams had multiple chances until Huberdeau ended it scoring from the slot. His shot hit the post after somehow eluding Bennington and caromed the right way for Saint John into the net. The goal earned the young forward recognition as the game’s first star. Michael Kirkpatrick got the lone assist on the game winner.
Next up the Sea Dogs (2-0) are back on Hershey Centre ice Tuesday night as they face the WHL Kootenay Ice. Kootenay is winless in two games and is the only team without a win in the first round of action. Face-off time is 7:00 PM
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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