RECAP: So, So Close. Dogs Lose 7-5.

FINAL: Saint John 5, Halifax 7

HALIFAX – The Saint John Sea Dogs nearly pulled off an unreal comeback on Saturday night at the Halifax Metro Centre.

Down 6-1 entering the third, the Sea Dogs scored four times in the final frame to make it a 6-5 contest entering the final minutes. But that would be as close as Saint John would get. The Halifax Mooseheads added an empty net goal to win the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League contest 7-5.

It was good to see the Sea Dogs get back into the game in the third as it was all Mooseheads in the first 40 minutes. The first two periods weren’t too pretty – Halifax outshot Saint John 32-11 – but hopefully the team can build off some of the things that they did in the third period.

The Dogs had a pair of goals from Stephen Anderson while singles came from Will Thompson, Noah Zilbert, and Nathan Noel. Sebastien Auger was pulled after giving up six goals on 32 shots in the first two periods. Antoine Landry took over in net for the third and made 13 stops.

Saint John, losers of three straight, fell to 6-14-0-2 on the year.

Meanwhile, the Mooseheads had two goals each from Brent Andrews, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Matt Murphy. Jonathan Drouin scored an empty net goal. Zach Fucale made 17 saves for the win.

Halifax, winners of four straight, improved to 16-8-0-0.

Halifax opened the scoring at 12:41 of the first as Andrews beat Auger with a tip. Ehlers gave the Moose a 2-0 lead at 14:50 with a power play goal and then Murphy netted another power play marker at 17:50 to make it 3-0 Halifax.

Shots in the opening frame were 17-7 in favour of Halifax.

Andrews scored his second of the game at 12:13 of the second as he beat Auger five-hole to give the Moose a 4-0 advantage.

Saint John got on the board at 13:51. Will Thompson, playing his first game in nearly a month, beat Fucale with a hard wrist shot to make it a 4-1 contest and give Saint John some life.

Just as a Halifax power play expired, Murphy beat Auger through a screen to give the Moose a 5-1 advantage at 18:02. Then Ehlers scored again at to make it 6-1 at 19:36 and welcome us all to blowout city.

Shots were 15-4 in favour of the Moose in the middle frame. Yikes.

Auger got the hook after two and was replaced by Landry to start the second. The Dogs had a good start to the period as Zilbert scored just 37 seconds in to make it a 6-2 contest.

Anderson got the Sea Dogs within three at 13:07. But the Sea Dogs couldn't make a comeback, could they? COULD THEY.

At 16:23, Noel scored to make it 6-4. Oh my. 15 seconds later, Anderson scored to make it a one goal game. Holy.

But it just was not meant to be on this night. The Dogs pulled Landry but Drouin found the empty net with 57 seconds left in the game to make it a 7-5 final.

Shots in the third were 14-11 Halifax and 46-22 Moose overall.

The Sea Dogs went 2-for-6 on the power play while Mooseheads went 2-for-8.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Quebec and take on the Victoriaville Tigres on Thursday night.