QUEBEC CITY P.Q. — After seeing Victoriaville take the lead 1- 0 in the opening period, Saint John scored five unanswered goals leading the Sea Dogs to a 5-1 victory over the Victoriaville Tigres. Stanislav Galiev with one goal two assists led the Sea Dogs offense in the impressive victory.
Battle of goaltenders continued early in the first period between Marco Cousineau of Saint John Sea Dogs and Kevin Poulin of the Victoriaville Tigres. Poulin made key saves against Nicholas Pettersson on a 3 on 2 breakaway. Jonathan Huberdeau missed an open net following a two-on-one breakaway.
Like the first game Victoriaville was the first team to score. Brandon Hynes surprised Cousineau when left alone in front of the net and scored 16:27 into the game.
Saint John tied the score on a power play. Nicholas Pard worked down low came from behind the net and beat Poulin for first Sea Dogs’ goal.
Saint John took control of first period shooting 15 times allowing only 9.
Cousineau made two key saves preventing the Tigres from taking the lead but a shot from the point by defenseman Nathan Beaulieu beat Poulin giving the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead 32 seconds in the second period.
Galiev made it a two-goal lead when he took a loose puck in front of the net and Poulin.
Danik Gauthier added a fourth goal for when he took a rebound from Mike Thomas’s shot. Saint John went back to their locker room leading by three after two.
The QMJHL league has had to make a decision in regard to the format of this Quarter-Final. Originally previewed as a 2-2-1-1-1 format the league changed it for 2-3-2 due to the unavailability of le Colisee Desjardin. So the next three games will be play in Victoriaville.
After missing an open net Huberdeau completed a tic-tac-toe play beating Poulin five hole for Saint John’s fifth goal. Huberdeau’s was the third one scored with a man advantage on seven power plays opportunities.
Goaltenders: Victoriaville Kevin Poulin 37 shots 32 saves Saint John Marco Cousineau 33 shots 32 saves.
Power plays: Victoriaville 0-5 Saint John 3-11
Three stars selections: first SNB Stanislav Galiev, second SNB Marco Cousineau and third SNB Nathan Beaulieu
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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