QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — In the last game of the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup tournament, the Saint John Sea Dogs faced the Shawinigan Cataractes. In a game mostly dominated by the Sea Dogs as far as quality of shots and scoring chances, the defending Memorial Cup champion earned the right to play in the semi-final on Friday night with a 4-1 win over Shawinigan.
Saint John opened the scoring in the battle of QMJHL teams. A bad turnover in Shawinigan zone gave Charles Coyle a chance to take first shot on Shawinigan netminder. Unable to manage the rebound Cataractes goalie Gabriel Girard could not do anything when John Huberdeau put it in at 4:39.
Having worked their power play unit in their last practice, knowing that was an element that caused their loss in the opening game against Edmonton, the Cataractes missed an excellent chance to get on board because power play was ineffective on first occasion during penalty to Nathan Beaulieu.
Already down one man, Shawinigan took another bad penalty giving a two-man advantage to the Sea Dogs with 55 seconds remaining to the first period.
Sea Dogs right winger Stanislav Galiev made sure his team didn’t miss the golden opportunity in scoring Saint John’s second goal of the game 24 seconds after the second penalty to Shawinigan left winger Pierre-Olivier Morin began.
Saint John only had one shot more (12-11) than Shawinigan in the period but more importantly they led 2-0 after first twenty minutes.
Shawinigan continued to play a tight game against the President Cup champion but as far as quality shots and scoring opportunities those went to Saint John midway through the second period.
Saint John continued to impress with their discipline knowing they only led by two and things could change rapidly. Shawinigan picked up some scoring chances in the middle frame but without any fanfare Mathieu Corbeil made saves for the Sea Dogs preventing the Cataractes to break the ice.
Saint John took advantage of another turnover in Shawinigan zone to add a third goal to the lead. Making first save on defenseman Nathan Beaulieu shot, Shawinigan goalie Girard had no chance on Ryan Tesink shot from the slot at 16:05.
Being shut down on their first two power play chances Shawinigan finally broke the ice on their third attempt with a man advantage. Anton Zlobin completed great effort from teammates Morgan Ellis and Michael Chaput with 1:05 remaining in middle frame. Zack Phillips was in penalty box for Sa Dogs team for slashing.
Shawinigan missed two chances to reduce the Saint John lead when Chaput and Zlobin missed opened net in first half of third period.
Saint John captain Huberdeau completed the Sea Dogs scoring for the night with his second goal of the night at 18:28.
Here is the scenario for upcoming games in Memorial Cup tournament.
Saint John victory over Shawinigan will see the London Knights going directly to the final of the tournament on Sunday. The Sea Dogs for their part will play in semi-final on Friday against the winner of the tie breaker game. Losing last round robin game against Saint John will force Shawinigan to play on Thursday night in a tie breaker game against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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