RECAP: Goals For Everyone. Dogs Lose 9-6.

FINAL: Cape Breton 9, Saint John 6

SAINT JOHN – It was bizarre night at Harbour Station.

A total of 15 goals were scored – including eight in the second period – in the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ 9-6 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday evening at Harbour Station.

After a fairly mild first period where Cape Breton scored twice to lead 2-0, things exploded in the second period. The Eagles were up 6-1 at one point in the second but the Sea Dogs didn’t pack it in. They chipped away at Cape Breton’s lead and came within one early in the third. But that would be as close as the Dogs would get.

It was a rough night for Saint John’s defense. They didn’t provide much help to Sebastien Auger who was pulled after allowing six goals on 27 shots. The Dogs also had a very tough time containing Cape Breton’s power play which scored on its first three opportunities.

One of the bright spots was that Saint John’s offense showed some life after a miserable performance on Friday night. They didn’t get a ton of shots on net but at least they were generating some scoring opportunities.

Sea Dogs goals came from Spencer Smallman, Jurij Repe, Stephen Anderson, Nathan Noel, Oliver Cooper, and Jason Cameron. Antoine Landry made 17 saves in relief.

Cameron Darcy had a hat trick for Cape Breton, Raphael Corriveau had two goals, and singles came from Kyle Farrell, Bradley Lalonde, Justin Hache, and Michael Lyle. Chase Marchand allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting the hook. Alex Bureau only made two stops in relief.

FIRST PERIOD

The Eagles opened the scoring 2:09 into the game. Cameron Darcy picked up a rebound in front of Sebastien Auger and moved to his foreward, scoring to make it 1-0 Cape Breton.

Saint John went to the power play at 3:04. Olivier LeBlanc had the Dogs first shot of the game 3:20 in. That would be the Sea Dogs’ only shot of the power play.

Later on, Kyle Farrell was in front and one-timed the puck into Auger’s pad. Then, Raphael Corriveau fired a shot from the bottom of the circle that was denied by the Sea Dogs goaltender.

Saint John went back to the power play at 7:32. Stephen Anderson had the Sea Dogs’ only somewhat decent chance as his shot went off the post.

Cape Breton scored again at 13:53 to make it 2-0. Michael Lyle came out from behind the net and fired a low wrist shot that went through some traffic and past Auger. The goal went under a short review but it would stand.

Late in the period, Anderson fed Marcus Cuomo on a two-on-one but the Dogs could not get a shot on goal.

The Eagles went to their first power play at 18:41 as Jason Cameron headed off for roughing. Farrell put the puck in the net but the buzzer went so it would not count.

Shots in the first were 17-4 Cape Breton.

SECOND PERIOD

Just 21 seconds into the second, Justin Hache scored on the power play to make it 3-0 Cape Breton.

The Dogs went to the power play at the 53 second mark of the second. Anderson tried to break past the Cape Breton defense but couldn’t get a shot off. The Dogs, as usual, couldn’t get much going on the man advantage.

Cape Breton went back to the power play at 4:00 as Samuel Dove-McFalls went to the box. Jason Cameron had a partial shorthanded break but could not beat Chase Marchand. Bradley Lalonde scored at 5:26 on the power play thanks to a nice feed from William Carrier to make it 4-0.

The Dogs finally got on the board at 5:38. Thanks to some hard work from Marcus Cuomo, Spencer Smallman was able to fire a rebound over the pad of Marchand to make it a 4-1 game.

Oliver Cooper went to the box at 6:06 for delay of game. The Eagles scored yet another power play goal at 6:59 as Farrell had a wide open net.

Cape Breton made it 6-1 at 8:27 as Corriveau chipped the puck in past Auger. That would be the end of Auger’s night and Antoine Landry would take over.

At 9:56, Loic Leduc and Alexander McQuaid would drop the gloves. Leduc picked up an instigator on the play, giving the Sea Dogs a power play. That would be the beginning of a series of penalties. At 13:29 on a five-on-three advantage, Jurij Repe fired a wrist shot from below the line and, with Cooper providing a screen, made its way past Marchand to make it a 6-2 game.

On the same power play, this time at 5-on-4 at 14:09, Anderson completed a nice passing play and fired a shot over Marchand’s glove to make it 6-3 and got the Dogs back in this thing.

Some more hard work from Cuomo paid off at 17:24. He drove to the net and forced a rebound, allowing Nathan Noel to score and make it a 6-4 game heading into the third.

Shots were 16-14 in favour of the Eagles in the second.

THIRD PERIOD

Landry made a couple of quick saves early on in the third period.

At 2:44, Cooper scored to get the Sea Dogs within one and the building believing. That would be the end of Marchand’s night as Alex Bureau took over duties in the Cape Breton crease.

But the energy from Cooper’s goal quickly evaporated as Darcy scored just 11 seconds later to give Cape Breton a 7-5 lead. Welp.

After Saint John killed off a couple of penalties, Darcy completed his hat trick at 11:38 to make it an 8-5 Eagles lead. Darcy had a long breakaway and deked out Landry.

Cape Breton had another power play at 11:46 as McQuaid headed off. The Eagles had some pressure on but could not connect.

Cameron scored at 15:38 on a McQuaid rebound to get Saint John within two again. But it was not meant to be as Corriveau scored his second of the night at 17:12 to make it a 9-6 final.

Shots in the third were 14-4 in favour of Cape Breton. The Eagles led 47-22 overall.

Saint John went 2-for-6 on the power play while Cape Breton went 3-for-6.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs are in Charlottetown on Friday night.