RECAP: Welp. Dogs Lose 3-1.

FINAL: Shawinigan 3, Saint John 1

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs have picked a bad time to go on a losing skid.

The Sea Dogs lost their fifth straight Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game on Thursday night at Harbour Station, falling 3-1 to the Shawinigan Cataractes.

Shawinigan and Saint John entered the game with 38 points each. But now the Cataractes will pull into the league’s final playoff spot for the time being with 40 points. Both teams have 10 games remaining. The Sea Dogs’ recent struggles certainly aren’t helping Saint John's playoff chances.

The Cataractes looked like the team that wanted this game more. So they got it. This was just their sixth road win of the season and only the 18^th time they have outshot an opponent.

Saint John couldn’t get much of anything going offensively in the first period and were outshot 17-5. Alexis D’Aoust scored at 15:40 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Alex Pawelczyk and Alexandre Delisle-Houde scored for Shawinigan at 1:54 and 9:35, respectively. Shots were 15-10 Cataractes.

Oliver Cooper got Saint John on the board late in the third at 14:19. But that would be as close as the Sea Dogs would get. Final shots were 38-27 in favour of the Cats.

Saint John went 0-for-6 on the power play while Shawinigan went 0-for-3.

The Sea Dogs have another big game with playoff implications on Sunday afternoon in Charlottetown.