Sea Dogs up 2 games, Knights draw even: CHL finals
Charlie Coyle took full advantage of a penalty shot on Saturday.
Coyle scored the eventual winner and added an assist to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 3-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Saturday in Game 2 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's President's Cup final.
"The first two games are big, just to get a head start on them," Coyle said. "It's nice being up by two going into their building."
Saint John has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven QMJHL championship series, which continues in Rimouski, Que., on Wednesday and Thursday.
Danick Gauthier and Tomas Jurco also scored for the Sea Dogs, while Saint John goalie Mathieu Corbeil stopped 14 of 16 shots.
Petr Straka had back-to-back goals for Rimouski and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 29 saves.
Coyle was hauled down during an Oceanic power play and scored on a penalty shot with 8:24 left in the second, going backhand-to-forehand with a deke that had Gervais-Chouinard going the wrong way.
That goal gave Saint John a 3-0 lead.
"It was a foot race and I just tried to use my body," Coyle said about the play that led to the penalty shot. "I have a big body, so I try to use it to my advantage. Being a power forward, that's what I have to do.
"I've been working on that for the last couple of years and that's one of my key points I have to do to be successful."
Straka answered for the Oceanic at 15:50 of the second, pulling the visitors within two.
Saint John defenceman Charles-Olivier Roussel was called for tripping with 5:48 left in the third, but Rimouski couldn't capitalize on the ensuing power play, going 0-for-5 overall.
Straka scored his second with 1:04 left in the third.
Early in the second, Gauthier's goal gave Saint John a 1-0 lead 6:12 into the period and Jurco buried a rebound 50 seconds later for a 2-0 lead.
"I loved our team tonight," Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought we played hard and competed hard and did the right things with the puck. For the majority of the time, I thought we had an excellent game.
"It was a 3-2 win, but I thought we dominated at times and took control of the game. I just think territorially we played really well."
A fifth game, if necessary, would be in Rimouski on Saturday, while Games 6 and 7 would be May 14 and May 16, respectively, in Saint John.
OHL: London 5, Niagara 3
Ryan Rupert had a hat trick on Saturday as the London Knights earned a 5-3 victory over the Niagara IceDogs to tie their best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League championship series at a game apiece.
Jarred Tinordi and Olli Maatta also scored for London, while Michael Houser made 39 saves.
Andrew Agozzino had a hat trick in the loss for Niagara, while Mark Visentin stopped 19 shots.
Rupert enjoyed playing on the smallest venue in the OHL — The Gatorade Garden City Complex and Jack Gatecliff Arena.
"It's that small-barn mentality and playoff hockey, I guess," said Rupert who now has eight post-season goals. Our line likes to the cycle [the puck] and I like to go the net and it worked tonight."
Rupert scored two second-period goals capitalizing on IceDogs turnovers, then sealed the deal into an empty net with eight seconds left in regulation. Niagara head coach and general manager Marty Williamson didn't mince his words after the contest.
"I didn't think we were good enough for two periods. I was happy with our third period, but give them [London] credit we turned the puck over and they capitalized on our mistakes. We weren't good enough. They played with more desire tonight and deserved the win," said Williamson.
Agozzino scored two first-period power-play goals to give Niagara a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play, and would complete his hat trick late in the second period to make the score 4-3, but that's all the IceDogs could muster.
"It's a loss so [the hat trick] doesn't mean anything," said Agozzino, who now leads Niagara with 11 playoff goals. "We weren't moving our feet enough in the first two periods, and we made too many mistakes."
Knights head coach and general manager Mark Hunter was impressed with his teams overall effort.
"I thought we showed a lot of desire and effort and did a great job blocking shots in the third period, and Houser made some big saves," said Hunter. London went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Niagara was 2-for-4.
Game 3 is at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ont., on Monday.