Lawrence Nets Two in Loss to Gatineau
The Saint John Sea Dogs (8-8-0-2) dropped the first game of their Quebec road trip 5-3 to the Gatineau Olympiques (9-4-2-2) on Wednesday night. Josh Lawrence hit the back of the net twice in the loss, opening the Sea Dogs scoring with a shorthanded goal, and William Dufour took the lead for most goals in the QMJHL with his 16th goal of the season on the power play.
Jonathan Lemieux started in net for the Sea Dogs, facing 42 shots and making 37 saves at the Centre Slush Puppie. Remi Poirier got the start for the home team, facing 29 shots and making 26 saves.
Gatineau got on the score sheet first, Jonah De Simone hitting the back of the net 27 seconds after the first puck drop. The Olympiques continued a barrage of shots for the next few minutes, but big saves from Jonathan Lemieux kept the Sea Dogs within one.
Saint John was able to respond with their first goal of the night, a shorthanded goal from Josh Lawrence. William Villeneuve sent a pass to Lawrence in front of the net on the penalty kill and tied the game up 6:28 into the game.
Gatineau’s Tristan Allard was sent off for interference and the Sea Dogs were able to take the lead. William Dufour banged a loose puck into the open net eight seconds into the power play for his league leading 16th goal of the season.
Gatineau tied the game up with 42 seconds remaining in the first period.
Shots at the end of the first period were 19-10 for the Olympiques.
The second period continued as a back and forth affair. Brady Burns was sent off at 8:23 for tripping and the Sea Dogs killed the penalty.
Gatineau made it 3-2 with 1:51 remaining in the second frame off a goal from Mathieu Bizier, a lead they would take into the final period.
Shots after two periods were 25-14 for Gatineau.
Manix Landry scored from behind the net with a lacrosse style goal, and left the Sea dogs behind by two at 4:24.
At 6:56, Josh Lawrence scored his second goal of the night and brought the Sea Dogs within one, picking up a rebound in front of the net and shoving it past the Gatineau netminder.
30 seconds later, Cam MacDonald and Evgenii Kashnikov were sent off for delaying the game and play went to 4-on-4 for a full two minutes.
At 15:50, the Olympiques sealed their win, Samuel Savoie scoring the teams fifth and final goal of the night.
The rest of the game was filled with penalties, Jeremie Poirier sent off for tripping at 17:07, Nathan Drapeau receiving four minutes for roughing, William Dufour joining him in the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Olympique Zachary Dean receiving two minutes for roughing all at 18:43. Play went to 5-on-3 for Gatineau before the game ended with the Sea Dogs short handed.
Final shots were 42-29 for Gatineau.
Alpine 3 Stars
1 Manix Landry (1G)
2 Evgenii Kashnikov (1A)
3 Josh Lawrence (2G 1A)
The Sea Dogs will get one day off as they travel to Val d’Or to take on the Foreurs on Friday. Puck drop is at 8 PM Atlantic, follow from home online at watch.chl.ca or on the radio with CFBC 930 AM.
