SUBWAY GAME RECAP: Franchise Records Made in Sea Dogs Shootout Win Versus Charlottetown
 Noah Reinhart tied the game with 47 seconds left in the third and Eriks Mateiko scored the shootout winner as the Saint John Sea Dogs (24-37-4-1) completed the comeback to get a 4-3 win in a barn burner with the Charlottetown Islanders (25-31-6-3) on Sunday afternoon. Cole Burbidge led the Sea Dogs with a goal and an assist while Peter Reynolds added a pair of helpers. Ventsislav Shingarov made 24 saves to get the win in the net. Ross Campbell led the Islanders with a pair of goals while Dixon Grimes made 43 stops in the Charlottetown goal. Sea Dogs’ also saw success with Nicolas Bilodeau breaking the Sea Dogs Record for Rookie Defenceman Points, and Brady Burns tying the franchise record for Most Points by a Sea Dog.  The first dangerous chance didn’t come until over halfway through the first period when Simon Hughes skated out from the corner and into the Sea Dogs slot for a wrist shot that was gloved out of the air by Shingarov. 30 seconds later, Brady Burns skated up the left wing and took a high shot on Grimes who got just enough of the puck to deflect it away. With 7:04 left in the first Shingarov came out to play the puck off a dump-in, only for it to take a weird bounce towards the front of the net and right onto the stick of Lucas Romeo who put it in the open net for a 1-0 Islanders lead. The Sea Dogs almost tied it up with just over a minute left in the frame as Reynolds won a puck battle along the half boards and fed Danny Akkouche in the high slot whose ensuing shot beat Grimes but not the post. Shots after the first were 10-8 for the Sea Dogs. Just over four minutes into the second Vince Élie came close for the Sea Dogs, intercepting an Islander pass right in front of Grimes but his ensuing backhand hit the post and stayed out. Two and a half minutes later Alex Drover found Eriks Mateiko in the middle of the slot off the rush but he put the puck just over the net. The Sea Dogs drew a penalty from that chance and the ensuing penalty started off strong with a pair of point-blank chances from Alexis Cournoyer and a point shot from Charlie DesRoches that went off the post. However, it was Charlottetown who capitalized as Giovanni Morneau forced a turnover as the Sea Dogs regrouped and found Campbell all alone in front who buried the puck past Shingarov to make it 2-0 Islanders. A minute later, with the Sea Dogs on the same power play, Nicolas Bilodeau put a perfectly placed point shot through traffic and past a screened Robillard to cut the lead to 2-1. The goal was Bilodeau’s 42nd point of the season which is a new franchise record for points by a rookie defenceman! Two minutes after that, Jared Cosman fed a great outlet pass to Burns on the left wing. Burns stopped up and dropped the puck to Luka Benoit, who hit Burbidge streaking toward the net who put it home to tie the game 2-2. With under four minutes to play in the second, Campbell created a turnover at his own blueline, skated back the other way, and fought off a Sea Dogs defender to put a shot past the blocker of Shingarov to regain the Islander’s lead at 3-2 heading into the second intermission. Shots after the second period were 21-18 for the Sea Dogs. The first 15 minutes of the third were tight-checking with little to no room for either team. As the game entered the final five minutes, Reinhart got a great shot off an odd-man rush that was stopped but the rebound came to Reynolds at the side of the net but he too couldn’t find the target and put the puck wide. In the final minute, with the Saint John net empty, Reynolds carried the puck up ice, drove past multiple Islanders to the net, had his shot stopped, a following Burbidge took a whack at it and finally a trailing Reinhart banged home the tying goal to make it 3-3, sending the game to overtime. Shots after the third were 39-25 for Saint John. After overtime solved nothing, the game headed to a shootout. Drover and Morneau each potted a goal for their respective sides for a 1-1 tie after three rounds leading to extra shooters. After Hughes was stopped by Shingarov on the Islander’s fourth attempt, Mateiko buried the Sea Dogs’ fourth attempt past Grimes to give Saint John the 2-1 edge in the shootout and the 4-3 win. Final shots in the game were 46-27 for the Sea Dogs. Alpine 3 Stars 1 Eriks Mateiko (Shootout Winner) 2 Ross Campbell (2G) 3 Nicolas Bilodeau (1G, New Sea Dogs Record for Rookie Defenceman Points) The Sea Dogs and Islanders meet again on Friday, March 24th, in Charlottetown. Puck drop is at 7:30PM AST and you can listen to the game on Sea Dogs Radio presented by TD at CFBC 930 AM or watch at watch.chl.ca. The 50/50 pot for our final home game on March 25th is already at 6165$ and counting! Purchase your tickets from anywhere in New Brunswick here. It is also your last chance this season to cash in any unused flex vouchers! |
