Sep 25 Montreal Juniors Send Sea Dogs Packing With Convincing First Win at Home, 6-3 Vs St John

The prodigal sons had returned to Montreal. Yes, all but one regular starter came back home from their respective NHL training camps in time to see them help their Montreal Juniors, presently 1-3 in the Q, battle against the Saint John Sea Dogs in a home game the Juniors had to win if they wanted to keep the city's finger off the panic button.

The Sea Dogs, currently 2-2, with one win more than Montreal, went with recent Montreal Canadiens acquisition, goaltender Robert Mayer between the pipes, allowing him to play in his potential future home town as a hopeful Montreal Canadien. The juniors, on the other hand, had a message for St John: Not in our house!. The Juniors went on to a convincing team-building victory with the vetrerans taking little time to make their presence felt.

Angelo Esposito, still with the Atlanta Thrashers organization, barring any further change, is expected to be back with the team before the NHL's regular season is to begin, however taking over the top line for the Juniors was team captain Matt Fillier and Luke Adam, both back after their sojourns at Los Angeles and Buffalo respectively. The only holdover on the first line was the ever impressive 16 year old Guillaume Asselin, who, going into this game had 4 assists in 4 games. Also back from Buffalo and in relieving Jean-François Bérubé in goal was, the player considered to be the best goalie in the "Q" was Jake Allen. A definite different look to this team as compared to their first 4 games, the Juniors now had their full team relatively intact, and it was time to play like it.

It didn't take long for the returned players to make their mark on this game. Jake Allen was welcomed back to the "Q" within the first 30 seconds of the game as he was called upon to make his first saves of the night when St John winger Ryan Sparling took a shot on net which resulted in 2 great chances for the Sea Dogs early on, but Allen was up to the task. The Juniors could thank Allen, who faced 13 shots before the Juniors even got 1 at the halfway marker of the first period. Allen, however, could thank his goalposts for the 2 that got by him, but managed to stay out, courtesy of those 2 inches of metal. Montreal went scoreless after a 4 minute high sticking penalty by Francois Gauthier, with their best chance coming when Luke Adam and Matt Fillier drove in on net on a partial 2 on none when instead of passing, Adam opted for the deke, however, Robert Mayer was having none of it. Adam would later capitalize on another chance, however, when on another Sea Dog penalty, late in the period at 15:24, after a flurry of shots on net with 2 separate one timers that Mayer was sharp and ready for, the ensuing scrum in front of him resulting in 3 Juniors players trying to stuff the puck past him. Adam would be the winner of that lottery. After the goal was reviewed, it was official, the Juniors would end the period up 1-0, making this the first time they had scored the first goal of any game this season. The tide seemed to be changing.

With Matt Fillier off on a boarding penalty to start the 2nd, Montreal seemed to have the situation under control, until, with 20 seconds remaining in the infraction, Ryan Sparling was left un-challenged steaming down the left hand side when  he let a quick snapshot go which beat Allen glove side and as quick as that, the game was tied at one.

A special mention of appreciation for his robust play in the second period goes out to Chris Thorne who, on the same shift, started out by plastering one Sea Dog defenseman along the boards  but then, while still in the St John end, corralled 2 more Sea Dog skaters and pounded both of them into the glass. Obviously motivated by this show of aggression, the Juniors responded, quickly and often. Luke Adam got his second of the season shortly thereafter at 10:44. A minute and fifteen seconds later, Matt Fillier would get his first of the season on a nifty play as he managed to skate in on Mayer and shifted from forehand to backhand as he roofed it past the Sea Dog goaltender. With the Juniors on the power-play at 16:08, Guillaume "the 17 Machine"Asselin was credited with his 2nd point of the night when he let a shot from the hash marks go which also found it's way past Mayer for his first of the season and his 6th point in 5 games.

To add insult to St John's injury, with TJ Brennan off for tripping and the Juniors defending in their own end, Nick Layton spotted Matthew Brenton coming off the bench and fed him a beautiful pass, splitting the D and sending Brenton in on Robert Mayer and faking him out of position just before he put it past him. with this shorthanded goal, the Juniors would head into the dressing room with a 4 goal cushion with one period left to play.

After Jake Allen's goalposts made a third save of the night to start the third, back came the Juniors, a team that was, until tonight, unaccustomed to playing with the lead, decided not to take any chances. Samuel Grenache found Nick Layton all alone in the slot and Layton snapped it past Karel St-Laurent, replacing the shell shocked Robert Mayer, glove side.

The Sea dogs would get one back, reducing the margin to 6-2 with Pier-Antoine Dion in the penalty box and Liske Payton jumping on a juicy rebound in front of the net off a Ryan Sparling shot from the point. Allen having no chance on the play. Allen did come up big Short handed, when Alex Wall was hit at the Sea Dogs' blue line, causing him to lose puck possession which resulted in a break-away from centre for Michael Kirkpatrick, but Allen coolly stopped the attempt. With the time winding down on the clock and the Juniors, perhaps already celebrating their first home-ice win, the Sea Dogs took advantage of Montreal's lackadaisical play in their own end and François Gauthier jumped on a loose puck directly in front of Allen, finishing it off for the Sea Dogs' 3 goal of the night.

But the juniors would not be denied their first victory on home ice and they would go on to defeat the St John Sea Dogs y a score of 6-3

Full game analysis as well post game interviews from coach Pascal Vincent, Guillaume Asselin as well as the game's 3 stars : 3 Jake Allen, 2 Matt Fillier 1 Luke Adam on this Sunday's episode (Sunday the 28th) of "The Franchise" on CJLO between 8:30 and 10:30.

Tags: Guillaume Asselin \ Jake Allen \ LHJMQ \ Luke Adam \ Matt Fillier \ Montreal juniors \ QMJHL \ St John Sea Dogs