SUBWAY GAME RECAP: Sea Dogs Blanked by Mooseheads
Photo from Trevor MacMillan/Halifax Mooseheads
The Saint John Sea Dogs (4-10-0-1) put up a valiant fight but could not find an answer for Mathis Rousseau who stopped all 23 shots he faced for the Halifax Mooseheads (10-2-2-1) in a 7-0 loss Sunday afternoon.
Jordan Dumais led the Mooseheads with a hat trick, Stephane Huard Jr. had a goal and two assists, Mathieu Cataford also added a goal and an assist for Halifax while Brady Schultz and Attilio Biasca each had a pair of assists.
Ventsislav Shingarov made 30 saves in the Sea Dogs second straight shutout loss.
The Mooseheads swarmed the Sea Dogs zone right off the opening faceoff and struck just 45 seconds in when Cam Whynot snapped a wrist shot from the left side face-off dot past Shingarov to give Halifax the early 1-0 lead.
Halifax maintained that pressure for several minutes with Dumais coming close as he weaved his way into the slot through multiple Sea Dogs defenders but could not put his shot past Shingarov.
Five minutes later, Biasca almost finished off a 2-on-1 but was hooked by Alexis Cournoyer, drawing a power play.
Halifax failed to convert on the ensuing man-advantage, but Cournoyer sprung out of the penalty box on a 2-on-1 with Connor Trenholm who was unable to find the net with a one-timer.
A minute later the Sea Dogs had Rousseau scrambling in the Halifax net and both Trenholm and Chad Bellemare would have chances but could not put the puck home and Saint John would trail 1-0 into first intermission.
Shots were 11-7 for the Mooseheads in the first.
The Sea Dogs drew a couple of early power plays in the second.
While they created plenty of chaos in the Mooseheads zone, including a snapshot from Cole Burbidge that went just wide, the Sea Dogs did not convert on the first.
Saint John continued to pour it on during the second with multiple glorious chances that saw Pavel Simek hit the post and Burbidge being absolutely robbed on the doorstep by Rousseau.
To make matters worse for the Sea Dogs, Huard Jr. got the jump on a bouncing puck past their defence and break in all alone for a short-handed goal to put Halifax up 2-0.
Two minutes later the Sea Dogs got another good look in the Mooseheads zone as Trenholm corralled the puck at the side of the net, walked out all alone, but he too would be stopped by Rousseau.
The Sea Dogs continued to press as Vince Elie forced a neutral zone turnover and fed Sam-Luca Thifault who ripped a shot on net, forcing Rousseau to come up with another great stop and an even better one on the rebound, throwing his left toe out to once again shut the door on a trailing Burbidge.
1:34 later Biasca found Dumais out in front from the corner of the Sea Dogs zone who directed it past Shingarov to make it 3-0 Mooseheads.
Cataford deflated the Sea Dogs’ momentum further just 2:41 after that, batting a puck out of mid-air that would bounce past Shingarov to make it 4-0 heading into the second intermission.
Shots were 25-18 for the Mooseheads after 40 minutes.
Halifax put the game away just 51 seconds into the third as Shultz fed Huard Jr. with a spinning backhand pass who put it in front to Dumais to finish off a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal to make it 5-0.
The Mooseheads swarmed again just 1:31 later with Brody Fournier finding the back of the net this time for the 6-0 goal.
Dumais completed the hat trick with 19.4 seconds left to make it a 7-0 final.
Final shots were 37-23 for Halifax.
Alpine 3 Stars
1 Mathis Rousseau (23-save shutout)
2 Jordan Dumais (3G)
3 Stephane Huard Jr. (1G, 2A)
The Sea Dogs will return to action later this week for Support The Troops night on Thursday, November 10th when they host the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Game time is 7 PM at TD Station and you can purchase tickets at the TD Station box office and online.
