SUBWAY GAME RECAP: Gatineau up in Series 3-1 After Sea Dogs Fall in Game 4
The Saint John Sea Dogs now have their backs against the wall, trailing 3-1 in their QMJHL quarter-final series after a 5-0 loss to the Gatineau Olympiques on Wednesday night.
Alexis Gendron led the Olympiques with a hat trick while Zachary Dean had a goal and two assists and Riley Kidney had a goal and an assist in the win.
Francesco Lapenna made 23 saves to get the shutout for Gatineau while Ventsislav Shingarov made 32 stops and Olivier Brideau made five in the Saint John net.
Just over three minutes in, Jacob Beaulieu got the first chance for the Sea Dogs, taking a shot on a 2-on-1 that took an odd deflection off a Gatineau player and toward the net but stayed out.
A minute and a half later, a post-whistle scrum resulted in the Sea Dogs taking a four-minute penalty.
However, the Sea Dogs got the better chances on the Olympiques man-advantage as Noah Reinhart broke up a play in the neutral zone to break in for a chance alone, but Lapenna gave him no room and made the stop.
A minute later Peter Reynolds forced a turnover with some great pressure and just missed Vince Élie with a centring pass in the slot.
The Sea Dogs efforts didn’t result in a goal, but it frustrated the Gatineau powerplay enough to kill the four minutes.
With just over five minutes left in the first, Antonin Verreault appeared to score on a delayed penalty for Gatineau, but the play was reviewed and the call was overturned for goaltender interference.
So due to the no-goal, the delayed penalty went ahead and at the midpoint of the powerplay Kidney fed Olivier Nadeau in the slot who put a pass between his legs to Gendron who had a wide open net only for Shingarov to throw his glove down on the goal line and make his best save of the night.
Unfortunately, the Sea Dogs didn’t escape the period unscathed as they took another penalty in the final minute of the frame and Dean fed a great pass from the point down low to Gendron who roofed the puck past Shingarov to give Gatineau the 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Shots after the first were 21-8 for the Olympiques.
Just over four minutes into the second, Alexis Cournoyer nearly got the Sea Dogs on the board, putting a tricky backhander on from the corner that Lapenna stopped but was almost beaten on the rebound by Alex Drover.
Penalty trouble hurt the Sea Dogs again a minute and a half later and with just 8 seconds left in the man-advantage Verreault entered the zone, dropped the puck to Olivier Boutin who walked the blue line and put a low shot-pass on that Boutin redirected to former Sea Dog Cam MacDonald who had a wide open net to finish the play and make it 2-0 Gatineau.
Just over a minute later Brady Burns skated in and set up Noah Reinhart perfectly for a hard shot off the rush, but Lepanna kicked it out of harm’s way with his right pad.
Two minutes later, Gatineau added to their lead as Dean hit Gendron with a stretch pass in behind the Sea Dogs defence and in all alone and he buried his second of the night to make it 3-0 Olympiques.
The Olympiques continued to mount the pressure and with five minutes left they entered the Saint John zone with some nice passing that put the puck on Samuel Savoie’s stick in the slot.
Savoie took a shot that hit a driving Verreault in the leg, deflecting the puck right to Kidney at the side of the Sea Dogs net where he put it up and over Shingarov to make it 4-0.
Just 2:50 after that Dean caught the Sea Dogs in transition and skated into a 2-on-1 where he kept it and snapped the puck by Shingarov to make it 5-0 heading into the second intermission.
Shots after the second were 37-19 for Gatineau.
Brideau came in to replace Shingarov to start the third period.
The Sea Dogs couldn’t muster any offense for a comeback in the third and Gendron added a late powerplay goal to complete the hat trick and make it a 6-0 final.
Final shots were 47-26 for the Olympiques.
Alpine 3 Stars
1 Alexis Gendron (3G)
2 Zachary Dean (1G 2A)
3 Riley Kidney (1G 1A)
Game 5 goes Friday night, April 7th, at TD Station. Tickets are only $7. Puck drop is at 7 PM AST and you can get your tickets at the TD Station Box Office and online. Come celebrate our Lucky 7 Night, as we work to fill TD Station with a crowd!
The 50/50 pot for Game 5 is already growing, so be sure to purchase your tickets from anywhere in New Brunswick here.
