The Saint John Sea Dogs built a 4-0 lead in the first period and never looked back as they went on to dominate the P.E.I. Rocket 10-1 at the Charlottetown Cvic Centre on Wednesday night.
It wasn't a pretty loss for the Rocket either, as the two teams combined for 92 penalty minutes including four fights.
For Saint John, it's their 10th win a row and remain first overall with a 40-14-0-2 record. For the Rocket, it's their third straight loss and remain in last place with a 17-34-2-2 record.
Rocket captain Josh Currie said it was an embarrassing loss.
"It was really tough on all of us. Obviously you don't want to lose in front of your home crowd, especially 10-1."
It was a bad game, said Currie.
"We couldn't get anything going. I thought we had offensive chances but their goalie came up huge, and when they had chances they were able to put them in and that's what it came down to."
Jonathan Huberdeau (2-2) led the way for Saint John with four points as Charlie Coyle (1-2) and Tomas Jurco (2-1) chipped in with two points.
Alex Noel had the lone goal for the Rocket.
It didn't take long for Saint John to open the scoring as Huberdeau scored 4:15 into the first period. Oliver Cooper made it a 2-0 Sea Dogs game at 9:58 before Coyle made it 3-0 at 11:14.
Jurco's powerplay marker at 14:15 chased Rocket starter Maxime Lagace out of the net after giving up four goals on only eight shots.
Currie said the team came out strong in the first.
"We were hitting them, getting pucks down low…but then we took penalties and it's costly against a team like that."
In the second period, Maxime Villemaire scored 55 seconds in to give the Sea Dogs a 5-0 lead before Jurco scored shorthanded at 2:30 to increase the lead by six. Villemaire added a second goal at 6:33 to make it 7-0.
With the Saint John up 7-0, the Rocket only had five shots on goal half way through the second.
That's pretty bad, said Currie.
"I thought as the game went on we got more pucks to the net and played a little bit better, but unfortunately they also were able to put more in."
Noel gave the Rocket some life with his eighth of the season 1:13 into the third period. But, the Sea Dogs responded with goals from Danick Gauthier, Stanislav Galiev and Huberdeau to increase the Sea Dogs lead to 10-1.
Antoine Bibeau made 20 saves in relief of Lagace.
Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil made 21 saves.
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the P.E.I. Rocket as the host the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday night, then take on the Quebec Remparts on Sunday.
A closer look
Shots per period: P.E.I. 3,5,14 total 22; Saint John 11,13,10 total 34.
Scorers: P.E.I. - Noel; Saint John - Coyle, Huberdeau (2), Jurco (2), Gauthier, Villemaire (2), Cooper
Powerplay: P.E.I. 0-for-7; Saint John 2-for-4.
Fights: 4, Herret, P.E.I. vs. Villemaire, Saint John; Oligny, P.E.I. vs. Villemaire, Saint John; Gallant, P.E.I. vs. West, Saint John; Gallant, P.E.I. vs. Villemaire, Saint John
Video Highlights
nolan@theqspot.ca
