RECAP: Streak Goes On. Dogs Lose 2-1.

FINAL: Cape Breton 2, Saint John 1 (SO)

SAINT JOHN – They came close, but the Saint John Sea Dogs could not end their losing streak on Friday night at Harbour Station.

Maxim Lazarev scored the only goal of the shootout as the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles edged the Sea Dogs 2-1. Saint John has now lost seven straight games and things won’t get any easier with a road game in Halifax on their Saturday night schedule.

The Sea Dogs at least scored first in this game thanks to a nice effort from Nathan Noel. But Noel’s goal proved to be the only one Saint John would get. The Dogs had stretches where they looked good offensively but also stretches where they did not.

Sebastien Auger and the Sea Dogs defense that has struggled of late also settled down a bit in this one, allowing one goal on 40 shots.

Jason Bell netted the only regulation time goal for Cape Breton. Alex Bureau made 23 saves in the win.

FIRST PERIOD

Cape Breton came close to opening the scoring in the first minute as a shot hit the post.

A few minutes later, Kyle Farrell cut in front and forced Sebastien Auger to make a nice pad stop. Then near the midway point of the period, Jurij Repe made a nice play to knock the puck off the stick of Michael Lyle who could have had a breakaway.

Later on, Bronson Beaton cut towards the net but was stopped by the chest of Auger.

At 16:03, Nathan Noel split the defense and then slid the puck five-hole on Alex Bureau to give Saint John a 1-0 lead. It was just the Sea Dogs’ fourth shot of the period.

At 18:19, David Weckworth took a hooking penalty to send the Screaming Eagles to the power play. Cape Breton had the puck in the offensive zone but couldn’t create many chances.

Shots were 10-5 Eagles in the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD

The Eagles went to another power play at 2:48. During the man advantage, a point shot was stopped by Auger and he covered up the rebound as well.

Jason Cameron went to the box at 3:39, sending Cape Breton to a five-on-three power play. Auger was dialed in, making several nice saves to keep Saint John in front. But at 5:18, during some five-on-four action, a Jason Bell point shot went in to make it 1-1.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 7:24. Thomas Chabot fired a backhander on net from the slot but was nicely stopped by Bureau.

Then at 9:07, Stephen Woodworth was given a five minute penalty and game misconduct for a check from behind on Noah Zilbert. Unfortunately for Saint John, they couldn’t get much of anything going on the power play.

The man advantage was cut short at 13:00 when Weckworth headed off for holding. Then at 14:17, Jeremy Doucet joined him in the box. The penalty parade kept going at 14:48 when Farrell went to the bin for inference.

Back at even strength and late in the period, Stephen Anderson had a long breakaway but was nicely stopped by Bureau.

Shots were 16-11 Cape Breton in the period.

THIRD PERIOD

Saint John went to the power play at 5:51. The Dogs had some real good pressure applied and a few shots but could not be beat Bureau.

Later on, Darcy had a good chance for the Eagles but Auger got a piece of it with his glove. Auger made another big save off Darcy when he was alone with the puck in front but the Dogs goaltender got a pad on it to keep it out.

The final couple minutes of the period were entertaining. William Carrier fired a backhander that produced a big rebound but nobody was there to bang it in. The Dogs had a couple good chances in the final seconds, including Oliver Cooper who sent the puck through the crease.

Shots in the third were 11-8 in favour of the Eagles.

OVERTIME

The extra frame had a good pace but not a lot of quality scoring chances. Shots were 3-0 Cape Breton.

SHOOTOUT

The Sea Dogs missed the net on all three of their shots. Maxim Lazarev netted what proved to be the only goal of the shootout in the second round, sliding the puck through Auger’s five-hole.

Final shots in the game were 40-24 in favour of Cape Breton.

Saint John went 0-for-4 on the power play while Cape Breton went 1-for-5.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax tomorrow to battle the Mooseheads.