Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-1

FINAL: Rimouski 4, Saint John 1

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs came up short against the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday afternoon at TD Station.

Julien Beland scored twice to lead the Oceanic to a 4-1 win over the Sea Dogs. Maxime Coursol and Jan Sprynar also scored in the first meeting between the two teams since last season's first-round playoff matchup.

The Sea Dogs had a hard time getting the engines started and were unable to get much going in the first period. Despite that, the Dogs trailed just 1-0 after one and 2-0 after two. In the third, Jeremie Richard got Saint John within one but the Oceanic scored twice more to earn a 4-1 victory.

Gabriel Robert only had to make 18 stops in the win. Only eight of Saint John's shots were listed as dangerous.

Ventsislav Shingarov made 24 saves in the loss.

LINEUP

Mateiko - Reynolds - Elie

Thifault - Burbidge - Reinhart

Laforge - Cournoyer - Drover

Burns - Ballard - Beaulieu

Tivey - Akkouche

Bilodeau - Cosman

Richard - Dassylva

Shingarov

Brideau

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise (healthy); defensemen Charlie DesRoches (injury) and Vincent Despont (serving the second game of a two-game suspension); and forwards Pavel Simek (injury) and Nathan Casey (healthy). Forward Tomasz Szczerba and defenseman Jake Tracey were not in the lineup and were not included in the scratches.

DEBUTS: Forward Alex Drover made his return to the Sea Dogs lineup while the newly signed Harrison Ballard and the newly acquired Tristan Dassylva made their debuts. Dassylva was listed as an affiliate player.

FIRST GOAL: Defenseman Jeremie Richard scored his first career QMJHL goal in the third period, wiring a slap shot that got Saint John within one.

Off the faceoff ➡️ Into the net.

Jeremie Richard gets the Sea Dogs on the board with his FIRST QMJHL goal! 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/ws80iQCUDp

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) January 8, 2023

NOTES: Forward Pavel Simek, who was injured in Friday's game, did not play... Rimouski's first goal was reviewed but was confirmed to be a good goal... Brady Burns did not see much ice time (if any) in the first two periods of this game... Julien Beland recorded two goals and an assist in the win... Cole Burbidge had four shots... goaltender Gabriel Robert had an assist... attendance was 2,457.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs begin a three-game Quebec road trip on Wednesday in Chicoutimi at 8:30 p.m.