Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-3

FINAL: Moncton 4, Saint John 3

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Miles Mueller's goal late in the third period ended up being the game-winner as the Moncton Wildcats upset the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3 at TD Station on Saturday night.

Mueller scored his first of the season at 16:36 of the final frame, tapping the puck in on a two-on-one. That goal gave the Wildcats a 4-2 advantage at the time.

William Dufour got Saint John back within one on a six-on-three power play at 18:41. The Sea Dogs pressed for an equalizer in the final minute but could not connect.

Dufour scored two goals for Saint John in the loss while Olivier Picard added a solo marker. Jonathan Lemieux made 32 saves in the loss.

Mueller, Francis Langlois, Maxim Barbashev and Vincent Labelle scored for Moncton. Thomas Couture was very good in net, making 42 saves in the victory.

It has not been a smooth start to the season for Saint John, and this loss along with some struggles against Cape Breton last weekend show that there is plenty of work still to do. The Sea Dogs have another tough test ahead of them, travelling to Bathurst on Sunday.

LINEUP
Burns - Lawrence - Dufour

Picard - MacDonald - Bezeau

Savoie - Reynolds - Sapelnikov

Bowness - Foston - McCluskey

DesRoches - Villeneuve

Poirier - Inniss

Drapeau - Despont

Lemieux

Patenaude

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Ryan Francis (Stockton Heat tryout) and Nico Laforge along with defenseman Hunter Gartley.

NOTES: Olivier Picard's goal was his first as a Sea Dog... Brady Burns extended his point streak to nine games. He has points in every game this season... William Dufour has six goals in his past four games. He has three multi-goal games this season... with an assist in Dufour's first goal, Josh Lawrence now has 100 points in his QMJHL career... Jeremie Poirier seemed to hurt his leg late in the third. He left for a few moments but did return... the attendance of 2,612 was the second largest crowd at TD Station this season.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst tomorrow to face the Titan at 3 p.m.