The Sea Dogs allowed three first period goals and never recovered in a 6-2 loss to the Charlottetown Islanders on Sunday afternoon at Eastlink Centre.
Saint John recorded a 7-2 upset win in Halifax on Friday night and had Saturday to prepare for Sunday's contest. But the Dogs couldn't carry that momentum over in a loss to one of the league's hottest teams.
The Dogs also struggled to stay disciplined on Sunday, something that hasn't been an issue of late. The Islanders scored three power play goals on eight opportunities.
Gregor MacLeod and Pascal Aquin each scored twice for Charlottetown while singles came from Keith Getson and Saku Vesterinen. Matthew Welsh made 33 saves in the win.
Ostap Safin and Alexis Girard scored for Saint John. Matt Williams made 38 saves in the loss.
The Islanders opened the scoring 8:40 into the first period with a power play goal. On the rebound of a Pierre-Olivier Joseph shot, Getson had a wide open net to make it 1-0.
A few minutes after Robbie Burt was denied on a breakaway, MacLeod scored at 12:50 to make it 2-0 Islanders. Hunter Drew fired the originally shot and was redirected nicely by MacLeod.
Charlottetown wasn't done there. At 16:39 during some four-on-four play, Aquin beat Williams to make it 3-0 for the Islanders after 20 minutes.
Both teams with back-and-forth in a shot heavy second period. Saint John ended up outshooting Charlottetown 17-15 in the frame thanks to a couple of strong power plays.
1:16 into the third, Samuel Meisenheimer had a breakaway but was stopped by Williams. MacLeod was on the doorstep to put in the rebound, making it 4-0 Charlottetown.
Chaos broke out at 4:06 with several fights and scrums taking place during the same stoppage. After a big hit by Burt near the Sea Dogs bench, Cole Reginato fought Sam King while Samuel Duchesne fought Drew. Reginato was given a double game misconduct for being an aggressor and abuse of officials. Burt was also given a five-minute major for boarding on the play.
During four-on-four play at 5:25, Safin got Saint John on the board by beating Welsh with a low wrist shot.
When Charlottetown went to the power play, the Islanders went back to scoring. At 6:56, Vesterinen scored with a blast from the point, making it 5-1. Then, with the Isles still on the man advantage, Girard scored shorthanded following a scramble. That made it 5-2 at 8:26.
Aquin rounded out the scoring with another power play goal at 14:57, accepting a pass down low in the slot and beating Williams.
LINEUP
SCRATCHESThis afternoon's lineup for your #SJSeaDogs brought to you by @CantrburyDental #AlwaysWearYourMouthGuard pic.twitter.com/MSHTgWZMAu— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 19, 2017
The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Alex D'Orio (lower body); defencemen Marcus Tesink (healthy) and Tyler Smith (healthy); and forwards Alexandre Lafreniere (healthy), Samuel Leblanc (healthy) and Landon Quinney (healthy).
Brendan O'Reilly made his Sea Dogs debut after missing Friday's game due to a BCHL suspension. Cole Reginato, meanwhile, returned from injury and played on the team's top line with Joe Veleno and Ostap Safin, replacing Keven Gursoy who slid to the fourth line.
NOTES
Brendan O'Reilly left the game roughly five minutes into the first period after taking a hit. He did not return. The overage defenceman appeared to be favouring his shoulder. That left Saint John with five defencemen for most of the game... light crowd of 1,993 on hand for this one... Charlottetown had not allowed a shorthanded goal this season before Alexis Girard's goal... Cedric Pare was given a four-minute penalty late in the third for "butt-ending"... we're reaching the point where Charlottetown's play can no longer be considered a fluke. What a stretch for this team... the Sea Dogs ended the game without Cole Reginato, Robbie Burt and Samuel Duchesne (all given game misconducts); O'Reilly (injured); and Radim Salda (misconduct).
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs are in Cape Breton to face the Screaming Eagles on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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