RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 6-0

FINAL: Saint John 0, Charlottetown 6

CHARLOTTETOWN - Playing their fourth game in five nights, a young (younger than usual, anyways) Saint John Sea Dogs squad had their struggles on Wednesday night at Eastlink Centre.

The Sea Dogs had a difficult time creating quality scoring chances and fell 6-0 to the Charlottetown Islanders. Even when the Dogs were able to get some sustained offensive zone pressure and get a good chance, Isles goaltender Matthew Welsh made the save look easy.

Both teams got off to slow starts, but once the Islanders got going, they quickly put the game away. Former Sea Dog Kevin Gursoy scored a hat trick while singles came from Liam Peyton, Hunter Drew and Sullivan Sparkes. Welsh made 35 saves in the victory.

Saint John dressed seven 16-year-old players plus a 17-year-old who made his QMJHL debut. The team certainly had a better night than Tuesday's 10-2 loss in Halifax, but a squad this young is going to have its struggles against a mid-pack team like the Islanders.

Mikhail Denisov made 31 stops in the loss.

Saint John has now lost eight straight road games and they remain four points out of the league's final playoff spot.

The Islanders opened the scoring on a power play at 16:50 of the first period. After Welsh stopped Maxim Cajkovic on a shorthanded breakaway, Noah Laaouan fired a point shot that was redirected in front by Peyton and past Denisov, making it 1-0.

At 19:21, Gursoy entered the zone and kept the puck, firing a wrist shot five hole on Denisov to give Charlottetown a 2-0 advantage.

At 3:43 of the second, Drew scored to give the Islanders a 3-0 advantage. Then a 4:48, Gursoy went in alone and beat Denisov with a deke to his backhand to give Charlottetown a 4-0 advantage.

Sparkes scored his first career QMJHL goal at 4:15, banging in a rebound to make it a 5-0 Islanders lead.

With 1:33 remaining, Gursoy completed his hat trick by sliding around William Villeneuve in front and beating Denisov, making it a 6-0 final.

LINEUP

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Christian Clark, Robbie Burt, Yohan Plamondon, Aiden MacIntosh and Jeremie Jacob; and defenseman Patrick Musico.

NOTES: PEI native Josh MacDonald of the Summerside Western Capitals, a 10th-round pick of the Sea Dogs in the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft, made his QMJHL debut... affiliates Alexis Belisle, Alexandre O'Neill and Carson Gallant remained in the lineup. Connor Richard, who played Tuesday in Halifax, was not in the lineup... Jeff Cowan acted as Sea Dogs head coach again. Josh Dixon is away from the team due to a death in his family... former Sea Dog Daniel Hardie had one assist... Xavier Bernard smoked Nicholas Deakin-Poot with a big neutral zone hit in the third period. Bernard received an interference penalty and Deakin-Poot was okay... pretty solid announced crowd of 2,122 considering the weather.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Friday at 7 p.m.