Doyle: It's all even in Shawinigan

For the first time in MasterCard Memorial Cup history, all four teams in the tournament have 1-1 records.

The QMJHL champion Saint John Sea Dogs bounced back from a tournament-opening loss with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings, champions of the Western Hockey League. Zack Phillips scored two goals for Saint John to lead all scorers.

"We came out hard in the first period and got one quick, we (also) come out hard in the second and third period and that's what we needed to do," said Phillips, whose first goal was scored from a bad angle before the five-minute mark of the first period. His second, with 1:37 remaining in the third, gave the Sea Dogs control at 4-2. Jonathan Huberdeau, Danick Gauthier and Ryan Tesink, into an empty net, were the other Saint John scorers.

But it was not a scoring play that coach Gerrard Gallant believed was the turning point in the game. It wasn't even a play that went in his team's favour. "For me it all turned around when Ryan Tesink got ran over with a hard hit (in the second period)," explained Gallant. "I think the guys said 'You know what, if that guy's going to pay a price like that, competing the way he is at 175 pounds' I think the guys went from there. So that was a big play..."

The Oil Kings were limited to goals by Kristians Pelss and Stephane Legault.

"The teams are so good here in this event. If you want to turn pucks over you're going to pay a price for it," said Oil Kings Coach Derek Laxdal. "If you look at the first two goals, we didn't get the puck in at the blueline. They come down and they shoot one from the goal line, they score the first goal. On the second one, we don't get it in at the blueline and they hit Huberdeau with a breakaway. We're behind the eight ball right off the hop."

Notes:
-By most accounts, ice conditions improved at Centre Bionest. Measures were taken during the day to reduce the amount of heat entering the building with outside temperatures hovering around 29 Celsius. There is increased daytime traffic at a Memorial Cup host arena during the day compared to a regular season or playoff game.
-To help assist with ice conditions, Tuesday's pre-game ice availability for London and Edmonton has been moved to the practice arena.
-The announced attendance was 3,965.

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