Saturday, September 8, 2018

RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 7-0

FINAL: Charlottetown 7, Saint John 0
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs' perfect pre-season record came crashing to an end on Saturday afternoon at Harbour Station.

Nothing went right for the Sea Dogs in their first exhibition contest in nearly two weeks, getting crushed 7-0 by the Charlottetown Islanders.

Charlottetown scored three goals in both the first and second periods. Saint John was very sloppy defensively and got into a lot of penalty trouble. The team failed to generate much offensive flow at any point.

Six different players scored for Charlottetown: Drew Johnston (two), Cole Edwards, Liam Peyton, Daniel Hardie, Brett Budgell and Lukas Cormier. Goaltender Dakota Lund-Cornish wasn't tested too much, making 27 saves in the shutout victory.

Tommy DaSilva allowed all seven of Saint John's goals. He struggled at times - but the defense in front of him did as well.

After a smooth ride so far this pre-season, this was a big reality check. This team is going to have more nights like this throughout the year - but that's just the way it goes. Patience will be required - and hopefully this young squad can learn from games like these throughout the year.

The Islanders opened the scoring on a two-on-one at 2:25. Edwards carried the puck into the zone and opted to hang on to it, ripping a wrist shot past DaSilva to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

At 5:20, Peyton grabbed the puck at the blue line and went in alone, firing a wrist shot over the blocker of Da Silva, giving the Islanders a 2-0 lead before the Sea Dogs had even registered a shot on goal.

Charlottetown took a 3-0 lead at 16:16. The puck came loose in the crease following a scramble and Hardie was there to poke the puck across the line, extending the Islanders' advantage.

Budgell gave the Islanders a 4-0 lead at 8:41 of the second. On a power play, a cross crease feed found the Charlottetown forward parked in front and he scored on an easy tap in.

Saint John got into a lot of penalty trouble in the second frame, giving Charlottetown plenty of power play time. On a man advantage at 16:00, a shot went off a Sea Dogs defenceman's leg and past DaSilva. Credit was given to Johnston.

The Islanders kept coming. At 18:09, DaSilva was down and out with the puck sitting in the blue paint. Cormier grabbed the disc and roofed it, giving the Isles a 6-0 advantage through two periods.

Saint John was awarded a four minute power play at 7:15 of the third period when Budgell was called for high sticking, but the team was unable to get much going. The Isles rounded out the scoring when Johnston scored his second of the game at 17:10.

LINEUP
NOTES: The Islanders put former Sea Dogs forwards Kevin Gursoy and Daniel Hardie on a line together with Keith Getson. The trio started the game for Charlottetown... this was Gursoy's first game with the Islanders, who was traded to Charlottetown by Saint John a couple weeks ago... there was nobody at the game, basically (announced attendance was 1,460)... William Poirier had the most unfortunate night, finishing a team low -4... the pairing of Nathan Larose and Jeremie Poirier had a game to forget, each finishing -3... Carson Gallant made his Sea Dogs debut. He is expected to begin the season with the club... Sea Dogs Radio made its debut. The sound quality was pretty solid and there was little to no buffering.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

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