RECAP: Another Win. Sea Dogs Win 4-1.

FINAL: Cape Breton 1, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN – After a rough outing last week in Bathurst, Sebastien Auger made up for it with a strong outing on Saturday night against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

The rookie goaltender made 29 stops in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 4-1 win over the Eagles at Harbour Station in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. His efforts earned him first star honours.

Auger made several big stops to keep momentum going in Saint John’s favour. The Sea Dogs led 1-0 after one and 2-0 after two. The Eagles finally broke Auger’s shutout bid with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

The Sea Dogs had goals from Oliver Cooper, Danick Gauthier, Stephen Anderson and Zack Phillips. Ryan Tesink and Nathan Beaulieu each had two assists.

Phillips’ goal and assist extended his point streak to 19 games. The victory also gave Saint John their 14^th straight win at Harbour Station.

Cape Breton’s lone goal came courtesy of Logan Shaw. Philippe Trudeau allowed three goals on 32 shots.

It wasn't the most entertaining game but the Sea Dogs played fairly well once again considering the lineup they were icing. The intensity level should rise this week with games against Moncton, Shawinigan, and Chicoutimi. 

44 seconds into the first period, Gauthier headed to the box. Much like Friday, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going on the power play.

The Sea Dogs headed to the man advantage at 8:36 as William Carrier headed off for hooking. On the man advantage, Beaulieu had a good chance at the side of the goal but missed. Then Tomas Jurco was denied point-blank by Trudeau.

The Sea Dogs connected at 10:17 on the power play as Cooper jammed the disc in while standing at the tip of the crease.

Late in the frame, Shaw cut in front with some speed but sent it wide.

Shots were 9-9 in the opening frame.

Shaw had a wide open net early in the second but couldn’t get a shot off. Saint John went to the power play at 1:22 but didn’t have any great chances. The Eagles went back to the man advantage at 4:08, and while shorthanded, Tesink had a breakaway but the puck rolled off his stick and went way wide of the net.

Then the dullness kicked in as basically nothing happened for several minutes. Ugh.

Grant West put a big hit on Cory MacIntosh in the corner and put some life back into the crowd. At 17:07, Gauthier fired home his 26^th goal of the season. Gauthier and Scott Oke had a two-on-one, but Gauthier opted to keep and shoot, beating Trudeau under his arm.

Late in the frame, Trudeau let a rebound right to Cooper but recovered to make the stop.

Shots were 13-6 in favour of Saint John in the middle stanza.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play 1:33 into the third period but couldn’t produce any solid scoring chances. A little later on at even strength, Auger made a huge pad save off Carrier. A few moments later, Trudeau made a big stop off a Ryan Tesink shot in close.

The Sea Dogs made it a 3-0 game at 10:06 as Anderson netted his third of the year on a feed from Phillips.

The Eagles finally connected at 15:09. Carrier centered the puck for a streaking Shaw who chipped the puck top corner to make it a 3-1 contest.

The Eagles pulled their goaltender in the final minute but it would not mater. With 0.8 seconds left on te clock, Phillips hit the open net to make it a 4-1 final.

Shots were 15-11 in favour of the Eagles in the third period.

The Eagles were 0-for-2 on the man advantage while the Sea Dogs were 1-for-3.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Moncton on Tuesday to face the Wildcats at 7pm.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation