RECAP: Sha-win-again. Dogs Lose 4-2.

FINAL: Saint John 2, Shawinigan 4

SHAWINIGAN, Que. – The Shawinigan Cataractes’ playoff hopes got a boost on Wednesday night.

The Cataractes, who remain in last-place, defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Centre Gervais Auto. Shawinigan is now three points back of the 16^th-place Sherbrooke Phoenix who hold the league’s final playoff spot.

The Sea Dogs, who sit between the Cataractes and Phoenix, certainly didn’t improve their playoff chances with the loss. They remain two points out but now have Shawinigan breathing on their necks.

Alexis D’Aoust had a pair of goals while Jeremy Auger and Gabriel Slight added singles. Marvin Cupper made 24 saves in the win.

Noah Zilbert scored both Saint John goals. Sebastien Auger made 24 saves in the loss.

Saint John has now lost five straight games against Shawinigan going back to the 2012 Memorial Cup. Very upsetting stuff.

This was the first game of a three-game Quebec road trip for Saint John. Things get even tougher for them this weekend with games in Val-d’Or and Rouyn-Noranda.

FIRST PERIOD

Saint John went to the power play just 13 seconds in but couldn’t get much going.

Shawinigan went to the man advantage at 4:17 as Thomas Chabot was sent off for interference. Early on, Felix-Antoine Bergeron tried to jam the puck in at the side but was stopped by Sebastien Auger. At 6:07, a shot from the middle of the ice was stopped by Auger but Alexis D’Aoust put in the rebound to make it 1-0 Cataractes.

Play then settled for a while with neither team getting a good scoring chance.

The Cats went back to the power play at 14:37 and applied some good pressure. The puck went in on a scramble but the whistle had clearly gone. Kris Hodge then fed Ilya Zinoviev who was all alone in the slot but was denied by Auger.

Saint John got another power play at 19:33 when Sebastien Gauthier high-sticked Mackenzie Brown.

Shots in the first were 17-10 in favour of Shawinigan.

SECOND PERIOD

The Sea Dogs couldn’t a whole lot going on the power play that carried over. But soon after it ended, Marcus Cuomo’s backhand shot was stopped but Noah Zilbert put in the rebound to make it 1-1 at 1:40.

Shawinigan went to another power play at 3:22. At 5:41, Jeremy Auger put the puck past Sebastien Auger with a wraparound attempt but was immediately called off due to the back of the net popping up off the ice. It was reviewed for several minutes and would be called a goal. Ross Yates was upset.

The Cats kept the scoring coming at 7:55. A Simon Boudreau point shot was tipped by D’Aoust who netted his second of the game to make it 3-1.

The Sea Dogs had a power play at 9:32 but, despite some good pressure, could not connect. They had another man advantage at 12:21 and had some good pressure again but very few shots on net.

D’Aoust had another good chance a few minutes later as a Brandon Gignac pass was sent over perfectly. But D’Aoust had his stick lifted to end the threat.

Later on, Matthew Highmore was in the slot and took a pass from Oliver Cooper but was stopped by Marvin Cupper. Late in the frame, a Brown pass found Jason Cameron streaking towards the net but he tipped it just wide.

At the buzzer, some rough stuff gave the Sea Dogs a power play to kick off the third period.

Shots were 8-8 in the second stanza.

THIRD PERIOD

On the power play that carried over, Zilbert tipped in an Olivier LeBlanc point shot 48 seconds into the period to make it a 3-2 game.

But then Shawinigan went to the power play at 4:59. At 5:55, Gabriel Slight fired a wrist shot past Auger to restore Shawinigan’s two-goal lead.

The third period was sort of uneventful. There was a lot of skating and stuff but not a lot of shots or chances.

Mathieu Joseph had a good chance past the midway mark of the mark as he got around a Shawinigan defenseman before getting stopped by Cupper.

With 1:44 left, the Dogs pulled Auger but could not score with the man advantage.

Shots in the third were just 8-3 in favour of Saint John. Shots overall were 28-26 Cataractes.

Saint John went 1-for-5 on the power play while Shawinigan went 2-for-4.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Foreurs in Val-d’Or on Friday night at 8:30pm.