After giving up three power play goals in Thursday's loss to the Halifax Mooseheads, the Sea Dogs allowed two shorthanded goals in a 3-1 loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday at Harbour Station.
Through two games, the Sea Dogs have scored just two goals while giving up seven. Of those seven goals, four have come on the power play, two have been shorthanded and one has been at even strength (although one of Saturday's power play goals was at five-on-five with the net empty).
The special teams' struggle doesn't come as a huge surprise given how many new faces are in the lineup. Hopefully the Dogs can gain better chemistry and get things turned around quick with two winnable games coming up: Thursday against Charlottetown and Friday in Moncton.
Like Thursday's game, the Sea Dogs didn't play too bad and had a chance to win. But a few bad breaks - in Saturday's case, a disallowed first period goal and an unfortunate bounce on the game-winner - proved to be costly.
On Saturday, Drake Batherson, Sacha Roy and Egor Sokolov scored for Cape Breton. Kevin Mandolese made 28 stops in the win.
Isiah Campbell scored Saint John's lone goal. Alex D'Orio made 31 saves in the loss.
Saint John was buzzing early on Saturday. Radim Salda had the first good chance of the game, ripping a low shot into the pads of Mandolese.
The Sea Dogs took a 1-0 lead at 2:20 of the first period. A Marcus Tesink pass found Campbell in front of the net. After going from skate to stick, Campbell put the puck past Mandolese to open the scoring.
After failing to convert on a power play, Tesink fired a point shot that beat the Cape Breton 'tender near the midway mark of the period. But, after a review, the goal was called back due to an offside.
After Ostap Safin nearly scored, Joe Veleno was awarded a penalty shot. On the free advantage, Veleno skated in and fired a shot blocker side that Mandolese stopped.
The Screaming Eagles tied the game at 1-1 at 15:57 of the first with a shorthanded marker. After D'Orio got caught in the trapezoid, Batherson scored to even things up.
The second period proved to be much more uneventful than the first. Late in the frame, the Eagles had back-to-back power play chances and produced some strong pressure in the Saint John zone. Despite getting some good shots off - including one that hit the post - D'Orio and the Dogs held Cape Breton off the board.
About five minutes into the third period, Reginato cut in front of the net but was stopped by Mandolese.
Saint John went to the power play at 6:06. After Bailey Webster was unable to hold a bouncing puck in at the blue line, Roy went in on a shorthanded breakaway and beat D'Orio with a deke, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
Soon after the Eagles' goal, Daniel Hardie had a step on the Cape Breton defence but missed the net. Then, Batherson had a breakaway and made a nice deke only to be denied by the Sea Dogs' goaltender.
With three minutes left in the third, William Poirier got ahead of the Cape Breton defence but was stopped. Saint John pulled D'Orio with two minutes remaining but their man advantage ended abruptly when Cedric Pare was called for checking to the head with 54 seconds remaining, giving the Eagles a power play.
Saint John pulled D'Orio again to even things up. But with 7.3 seconds remaining, Sokolov hit the empty net to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead and win.
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Samuel Leblanc (injured) and Ben Reid (healthy); defenceman Alexis Girard (healthy); and goaltender Matthew Williams (injured).
NOTES: Nathan Larose made his Sea Dogs debut after missing the season opener due to a suspension... Josh Dixon came out to the Sea Dogs bench with about four minutes left in the first intermission to speak with the referees... Isiah Campbell's goal was the second of his QMJHL career... Ostap Safin and Jordan Ty Fournier had an unexpected fight late in the third... Marcus Tesink recorded his first point - an assist - as a Sea Dog... Radim Salda had four shots... on the power play, Saint John is 1/13 this season.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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