Rocket streak
P. E. I. blanks Sea Dogs 4- 0 for third consecutive win.
Louick Marcotte scored the game- winner and Antoine Bibeau turned aside all 22 shots he faced as the P. E. I. Rocket blanked the Saint John Sea Dogs 4- 0 Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the Civic Centre.
Marcotte chipped the puck passed defence man Steven Duda in the neutral zone with two minutes to go in the second period.
He collected the biscuit and buried it five- hole past goalie Sébastien Auger to break the stalemate.
“I saw the defence man pinch on me, so I just chipped it a bit farther than him,” Marcotte said. “It was a big goal for the team and I think everybody bought in and we had a good third period.”
The Rocket scored two goals in the first 5: 38 of the third and never looked back.
Captain Josh Currie scored his ninth of the season to make it 3- 0 redirecting a nice pass from Ben Duffy on the doorstep.
“Duff is a great player,” Currie said.
“He just took it wide and beat the defence man and I was wide open and he made a terrific pass.”
The goal came 90 seconds after Victor Provencher had given the home side an insurance marker.
“It took the wind out of their sails a bit, which was huge,” Currie said.
Bibeau, 18, recorded his first career shutout in the Q and improved to 4- 0 on the season with a 1.03 goalsagainst average.
The Rocket is now 6- 2 while the Sea Dogs fell to 44. P. E. I. has won three straight, while Saint John has lost three in a row.
Sea Dogs’ coach Mike Kelly was disappointed with the loss.
“I didn’t like our energy level to start the game,” he said. “With the team that we have now, we’re not like we were, we can’t score at will or turn it on in the last 10 minutes.”
Auger kept the Sea Dogs it in with several key saves.
“Our goaltender has been really good. It’s not on him,” Kelly said.
He said the team started the season with five strong games and must get back to playing that way.
“We have to get effort. We have to get compete. We don’t have it right now, ( but) we’re going to get it.”
Currie has been playing on the first line with Duffy and Matej Beran since last week’s road trip in Quebec. They showed some good chemistry while also being sound defensively. The trio had the task of going headto- head against the Sea Dogs’ top unit of Jonathan Huberdeau, Stephen MacAulay and Ryan Tesink.
Currie said the key was keeping the puck out of Huberdeau’s hands.
The Florida Panthers’ draft pick was widely expected to be in the NHL this year, but finds himself back in junior with the lockout.
“Whenever he gets the puck he can make things happen no matter where he is on the ice,” Currie said.
While the Rocket won the game, the result could have been different.
The Rocket turned the puck over a few times in their own zone, giving the Sea Dogs some quality scoring chances.
Each time Bibeau was up to the test.