Recap: Sea Dogs lose 3-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Cape Breton 3

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SYDNEY, NS - It was not a great night for the Saint John Sea Dogs' playoff hopes.

The Sea Dogs fell 3-1 to the Cape Breton Eagles on Saturday night at Centre 200. Falling to the Eagles was not ideal for Saint John, nor was the Val-d'Or Foreurs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan winning on the same night.

The Sea Dogs remain 17th overall in the QMJHL standings but are now six points back of the final playoff spot(s). The top-16 teams qualify for the post-season.

Pavel Simek - on a fortunate bounce - scored Saint John's lone goal, which tied the game at 1-1 in the second period. Ventsislav Shingarov made 38 stops in the loss.

Antoine Roy, Trevor Thurston and Came Squires scored for Cape Breton. Oliver Satney made 27 saves in the win.

The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet again on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.

LINEUP

Burns - Burbidge - Reinhart

Simek - Reynolds - Benoit

Akkouche - Mateiko - Elie

Casey - Cournoyer - Drover

Tivey - DesRoches

Bilodeau - Cosman

Ianniello - Despont

Shingarov

Brideau

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defenseman Jeremie Richard (injury) along with forwards Nico Laforge (injury), Sam-Luca Thifault (injury), Harrison Ballard (healthy) and Jacob Beaulieu (injury).

PRE-GAME: It was Heritage Night at Centre 200, with the Eagles wearing special jerseys that honoured Cape Breton coal mining. The team also announced their leadership group for the second half.

Oh Captain, My Captain 🫡@Ajvn491 pic.twitter.com/zgCTnWyQOO

— Cape Breton Eagles (@CBEHockey) February 25, 2023

NOTES: The Sea Dogs went with 12 forwards and six defensemen with defenseman/forward Danny Akkouche dressing as a forward... defenseman Jeremie Richard was listed as injured after getting hurt in Thursday's game in Moncton... Nathan Casey played in his first game since Feb. 10... Sea Dogs head coach Travis Crickard worked his 500th game behind a CHL bench... Cole Burbidge had five shots... Eriks Mateiko was a -3... neither team scored a power play goal despite each having lengthy five-on-three advantages... this was Cape Breton's first home game since Feb. 5... attendance was 2,457.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet again tomorrow afternoon at Centre 200 at 3 p.m.