Veterans Philippe Daoust and William Dufour took charge with a brace each to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 6-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic, who were without four top forwards on Sunday in New Brunswick.
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“The Sea Dogs have 19 players aged 19 and 20 and we had four. I liked our third period. The guys continued to work the four-goal gap. [Patrik] Hamrla had a very, very difficult game. There are three goals he would like to see again,” commented Océanic head coach Serge Beausoleil, who had to manage without his offensive engine, Xavier Cormier, who was injured the day before.
The Sea Dogs dominated the first period from start to finish. The locals were consistently first on the puck, even when shorthanded. William Dufour (24and) opened the scoring in the fourth minute of play.
Less than three minutes later, former Drakkar Raivis Kristians Ansons took advantage of the fact that Océanic goaltender Patrik Hamrla was unable to stop the puck on a routine play to double the lead. Sea Dogs.
Liam Kidney opened the door for the Sea Dogs with a bad backhand at the entrance of the opposing territory that allowed the Sea Dogs to come two against one in numerical inferiority. Philippe Daoust literally stripped Hamrla’s pants with a skilful feint from the backhand.
Two goals in the second period
Daoust scored his second goal of the game early in the second period, the third in two games for the 20-year-old Ottawa Senators forward since returning from the AHL.
The Océanic came back with two goals. Luka Verreault (12and) beat Thomas Couture with a laser in the top of the net, a power play goal. William Dumoulin took advantage of a rare turnover from the Sea Dogs to reduce the deficit to two goals following a fine effort from Alexander Gaudio. The hosts added two more goals late in the second, scored by Cam MacDonald and Dufour, with their second of the game.
Coming in relief at Hamrla at the start of the third period, Gabriel Robert blocked the Sea Dogs’ 10 shots, but the Océanic was unable to reduce the locals’ lead.
Forwards Ludovic Soucy, Julien Béland and Cam Thomson are still on the COVID-19 protocol. Alex Drover has returned to play. The Océanic will host the Halifax Mooseheads on Tuesday.