RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 4-0

FINAL: Halifax 4, Saint John 0

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs contained the Memorial Cup hosts for 40 minutes on Friday at Harbour Station, but a rough third period did them in once again.

The Halifax Mooseheads scored three third period goals in a 4-0 win over the Sea Dogs in front of a light Friday crowd. It was 1-0 Halifax through 40 minutes with shots 22-18 in favour of the Moose - but the wheels fell off for the Dogs in the third, allowing three goals in a 2:43 span.

Halifax showed off its depth with goals from Brock McLeod, Raphael Lavoie, Xavier Parent and Samuel Asselin. Backup goaltender Cole McLaren made 28 saves for his first career shutout.

Alex D'Orio made 34 saves for Saint John in the loss.

Third periods have been an issue for Saint John for much of the season - as is the case for most young teams. Even in Tuesday's win the team did not have a pretty final 20 minutes. Saint John has now been outscored 20-5 in third periods this year.

Luke Wilson took a four-minute high sticking penalty at 3:26 of the first, but it was Saint John getting the best scoring chances. After Anthony Boucher was stopped on a shorthanded break, William Poirier had two cracks at the rebound but was robbed by McLaren both times.

At 15:30, the Sea Dogs headed to a five-on-three power play for 1:58. The team struggled to get anything going though, and the two-man advantage ended when Boucher took a slashing penalty at 17:07.

Halifax opened the scoring at 2:40 of the second period. McLeod came down the wing and fired a wrist shot that beat D'Orio five-hole to give the Mooseheads a 1-0 advantage in what proved to be an uneventful middle frame.

Saint John caught a bad break early in the third. Michael Campoli broke his stick at the blue line, allowing the Mooseheads to enter the offensive zone on a two-on-one. Lavoie kept the puck and ripped a wrist shot past D'Orio to give the Moose a 2-0 lead 17 seconds into the final frame.

Moments after D'Orio made a spectacular glove save off of Jordan Maher, the Mooseheads made it 3-0 on a power play. Jared McIsaac fired a point shot that was blocked. Maher grabbed it and sent a backhand pass to Parent who beat D'Orio, giving the Mooseheads a 3-0 lead.

Saint John called a timeout after Halifax's third goal - but it didn't work out too well. 13 seconds after Parent's goal, Marcel Barinka was behind the net and sent a quick pass in front to Asselin who beat a surprised D'Orio, making it 4-0.

LINEUP

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Nicholas Deakin-Poot, Christian Clark and Kevin Mason (healthy); along with defensemen Nathan Larose and Carson Gallant (healthy).

NOTES: Saint John wore their black third jerseys... Brady Burns returned to the Sea Dogs lineup for the first time since Oct. 5... Anthony Boucher remained on the Sea Dogs' top line with Josh Lawrence and Maxim Cajkovic... Yohan Plamondon's point streak ended at four games... Saint John was shutout for the second time this season.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Islanders in Charlottetown on Sunday at 3 p.m.