Memorial Cup: Sea Dogs pick up first victory

SHAWINIGAN, QC. – The talk heading into the 2012 Memorial Cup was how evenly matched all four teams in the tournament were.

Nobody quite expected them to be this tight though as all four teams now have 1-1 records after the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings 5-2.

With all four teams having identical records, it marks the first time in tournament history the feat has happened. It also means a tie-breaker game on Thursday night regardless of what happens on the final two days of the round robin.

“I didn’t know that was the stat,” said Saint John coach Gerard Gallant. “There’s no doubt that the four teams here are evenly matched. If you play well you’re going to win that night and if you slip a little bit, you’re going to lose. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing in the tournament, they’re going to be good battles.”

Zack Phillips led the offensive attack for the Sea Dogs with a pair of goals.

“We were a lot better (on Monday),” said Phillips. “We kind of took it east there near the end of the first period. We came out in the second period and knew it was going to be a turning point for us. When we came out in the second it was a whole new game and we were even better in the third period.”

Florida Panthers prospect Jonathan Huberdeau added a goal and an assist in the win while Danick Gauthier and Ryan Tesink also scored for the Sea Dogs. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil stopped 25 shots for Saint John.

Stephane Legault and Kristians Pelss scored for Edmonton in the loss while Henrik Samuelsson set up both goals. Goaltender Laurent Brossoit stopped 29 shots.

“The teams are so good here that if you want to turn pucks over, you’re going to pay a heavy price for it,” said Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal. “If you look at the first two (Saint John) goals, we didn’t get puck in at the blueline, they come down, they shoot one from the goal line to score the first goal and on the second one, we didn’t get it in at the blueline and they sent Huberdeau in on a breakaway so we were behind the eight ball right off the hop.”

The Oil Kings have a short turnaround as they face the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knight on Tuesday night.

“All year we’ve gone with the ten-minute rule,” said Oil Kings defenceman Keegan Lowe. “You think about the game for ten minutes, a win or a loss, then, especially if there’s a game the next day, you get ready for it.”

The Sea Dogs enjoy a day off on Tuesday before facing the host team, the Shawinigan Cataractes in the final game of the round robin on Wednesday night.