RECAP: So close. Dogs Lose 4-3.

FINAL: Cape Breton 4, Saint John 3 (OT)

SAINT JOHN – An impressive third period comeback was not enough for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday night.

The Sea Dogs were down 3-0 in the early stages of the third period but climbed back with three goals in less than five minutes. But Saint John’s comeback would only get them a point as Jeremy Beaudry netted the overtime goal to give the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles a 4-3 victory at Harbour Station.

Beaudry had two goals in the game while singles came from Clark Bishop and Julien Pelletier. Alex Bureau made 22 saves in the win.

Jason Cameron, Nicolas Hebert, and Matthew Highmore all scored for Saint John. Sebastien Auger made 34 stops in the loss.

Cape Breton was dominating at times and had a large lead in shots on goal for much of the game. But the Sea Dogs were able to capitalize on the chances they got in the third period to earn a valuable point. Unfortunately for Saint John, the Shawinigan Cataractes pulled ahead of them in the standings with a shootout win against the Quebec Remparts tonight. The Sea Dogs still have one-game in-hand.

It was all Cape Breton early in the first period. Beaudry opened the scoring at 2:01 with a shot that beat Auger top corner. That made it 1-0.

After a few minutes of nothing, a Jonathan Brunelle shot went through the blue paint but stayed out of the net.

Saint John went to the power play at 7:01. On the man advantage, a Nathan Noel wrist shot hit the post.

Later on in the period, Loik Leveille hit the post off a scramble.

Shots in the first were 15-8 Screaming Eagles in the first period.

Bishop scored some goal just 14 seconds into the period to make it 2-0 Cape Breton. It was all Eagles after the goal but Saint John managed to stay in it thanks to Auger. A long stretch without a whistle ended when Auger made a nice glove save off of Cameron Darcy.

Kelly Bent and Beaudry both went to the box for roughing at 10:27. The two were yelling at each on their way to the boxes and after they got in them.

Mackenzie Brown and Guillaume Gauthier dropped the gloves at 14:35.

Saint John went to the power play at 15:11 but it looked more like even strength play at times. Bishop had a breakaway but was denied by the pad of Auger.

Shots were 12-6 Eagles in the middle stanza.

Cape Breton took a 3-0 lead at 2:30 of the third period. Pelletier fired a shot from the rim of the circle that beat Auger high glove side.

Then Saint John’s run started. It began with Cameron scoring at 3:57 to make it 3-1 and give the Dogs some life.

Then at 7:29, Mathieu Joseph threw the puck in front for Marcus Cuomo. Cuomo was unable to get a shot off but Hebert was and he made it a 3-2 game.

At 8:14, the Dogs completed the comeback as Highmore beat Bureau with a quick shot glove side to make it a 3-3 match. The Eagles would use their timeout following the goal.

Later on, Bishop had another shorthanded breakaway but was once again denied by Auger.

With 14 seconds left in regulation, Jurij Repe flipped the puck out and would receive a delay of game penalty. The Sea Dogs, thanks to some nice stops by Auger, were able to kill off the penalty in overtime.

But at 3:37, Saint John took what would prove to be a costly too many men penalty. Beaudry went coast-to-coast, splitting the Sea Dogs defense, and then backhanded the puck past Auger to complete a beautiful goal and give the Eagles a 4-3 win at 4:09 of OT.

Shots were 38-25 in the game.

The Sea Dogs went 0-for-4 on the power play while the Screaming Eagles were 1-for-5.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Screaming Eagles again tomorrow night at 7pm. It’s Country Night.