Recap: Sea Dogs lose 5-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Halifax 5

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs kept it close but ultimately fell to one of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's top teams on Thursday.

Noah Reinhart and Luka Benoit scored Saint John goals in a 5-2 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads at Scotiabank Centre. The Sea Dogs opened the scoring in the first period but then allowed three Mooseheads goals shortly after.

Benoit got Saint John back within a goal midway through the second period but it was all Moose in the third. Halifax scored twice in the final frame - which included an empty net goal - and outshot the Sea Dogs 15-4.

The Sea Dogs, who played a man short in this game due to a lengthy list of injured players, remain six points back of the final playoff spot(s).

Alexandre Doucet, who signed an entry-level deal with the Detroit Red Wings earlier this week, had a hat trick for Halifax. Evan Boucher and Markus Vidicek added solo markers while Brady James made 29 saves in the victory.

Ventsislav Shingarov made 32 stops in the loss for Saint John.

LINEUP

Burns - Reynolds - Elie

Reinhart - Burbidge - Benoit

Simek - Cournoyer - Drover

Beaulieu - MacDonald

Tivey - DesRoches

Bilodeau - Akkouche

Ianniello - Despont

Shingarov

Brideau

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defensemen Jared Cosman (injury) and Jeremie Richard (injury) along with forwards Harrison Ballard (injury), Nathan Casey (injury), Nico Laforge (injury), Sam-Luca Thifault (injury) and Eriks Mateiko (injury).

CALLED UP: With a number of forwards out, the Sea Dogs recalled affiliate player Cael MacDonald from the MHL's Truro Bearcats. The 18-year-old forward has six goals and 13 assists in 45 games with Truro this season. This was MacDonald's second game with Saint John this season. He recorded an assist on Noah Reinhart's first period goal.

ROUGH SEASON: The Sea Dogs are now 0-7-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season and have been outscored 51-18. The two meet one more time in the regular season: March 17 at TD Station.

NOTES: Saint John's black third jerseys made a rare road appearance... Eriks Mateiko was originally listed on Saint John's fourth line but was a late scratch... Jacob Beaulieu appeared in his first game since Feb. 18... Halifax's Zachary L'Heureux served the eighth game of his 10-game suspension... Noah Reinhart had a goal and an assist... Brady Burns had seven shots... Josh Lawrence had two assists... Jordan Dumais had three helpers to give him 112 points on the year... Alexandre Doucet now has 48 goals this season... the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads love to play each other in bad weather, it seems... attendance was 6,380.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs visit the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.