Recap: Sea Dogs lose 6-1

FINAL: Rimouski 6, Saint John 1

SAINT JOHN - Penalties are proving to be a problem for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

After allowing four power play goals in Sunday's loss, the Sea Dogs allowed another five in a 6-1 loss to the Rimouski Oceanic on Halloween night at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs allowed the Victoriaville Tigres to go perfect 4/4 on the man advantage in their last game. Saint John was apparently unable to fix their penalty kill woes between then and Thursday, giving up five power play goals on nine chances to the high powered Oceanic.

Saint John's penalty kill, which sat third overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League just a few weeks ago, now sits last with a rating of 63.2%.

Former Sea Dog Cedric Pare led the way for Rimouski, scoring three goals and adding three assists. Isaac Belliveau, Dmitry Zavgorodniy and Adam Raska also scored. Backup goaltender Raphael Audet made 15 stops in the win.

Joona Lehmus scored for Saint John. Zachary Bouthillier made 50 stops in the loss.

While the Sea Dogs managed to hang around most of the game, the Oceanic dominated puck possession. Shots ended 56-16 in favour of the visitors with Saint John unable to generate much of anything offensively. Giving Rimouski nine power plays didn't help, either.

The Sea Dogs website has a full game recap.

LINEUP

Here is tonight's lineup for your #SJSeaDogs brought to you by @CantrburyDental #AlwaysWearYourMouthGuard pic.twitter.com/5VmqkhPXr6

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) October 31, 2019

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Noah Patenaude (injury); defensemen Kale McCallum (injury) and Patrick Musico (healthy); along with forwards Maxim Cajkovic (injury), Julian Vander Voet (healthy) and Joshua Roy (World Under-17 Hockey Challenge).

TOP LINE: Rimouski's top line trio, which leads the league in scoring, flexed in this game. Alexis Lafreniere had four assists; Cedric Pare had three goals and three assists; and Dmitry Zavgorodniy registered a goal and four assists.

OLD MATES: Pare recorded two goals and three assists in two games against Saint John last season and topped that on Thursday in just the first meeting of the year against his old club. Defenseman Vincent Martineau, also an ex-Dog, was held pointless.

HALLOWEEN: The Sea Dogs are now 2-2 all-time in games played on Halloween. This was Saint John's first Oct. 31 game since 2015 and the third to be played on home ice. There was a slight increase in attendance compared to the 2015 game. Home attendance for the games is in brackets.

2019: 6-1 loss vs Rimouski (2,309)
2015: 5-3 win vs Val-d'Or (2,266)
2012: 2-1 loss vs Blainville-Boisbriand (2,694)
2010: 7-0 win at Rouyn-Noranda

HUGE HIT: James White was drilled into the glass that separates the two benches in the second period by Dmitry Zavgorodniy. White was down for a bit and was helped to the dressing room but did return for the third period.

FIRST GOAL: On a positive note, defenseman Joona Lehmus scored his first QMJHL goal. Defenseman Olivier DesRoches, who had an eventful night on the ice, recorded his first point as a Sea Dog on the goal.

UGLY THIRD: Rimouski dominated the third period, scoring three goals and outshooting Saint John 22-2. The Oceanic also held an edge physically in the frame. It was not pretty.

NOTES: Colten Ellis, the Oceanic's No. 1 goaltender, did not travel with the team due to injury... the Oceanic scored with 12:05 remaining in the second period but the goal was called off due to goaltender interference... Rimouski's Adam Raska was in a lot of pain following the Oceanic's sixth goal late in the third period. Raska took a cross check/shove from Olivier DesRoches and appeared to fall a bit awkwardly... Rimouski's 56 shots is the most by any team in the QMJHL this season... this was Saint John's last home game until Nov. 22.

HIGHLIGHTS


NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs visit the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday at 7 p.m.