RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 7-1

FINAL: Rouyn-Noranda 7, Saint John 1

SAINT JOHN - The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's top defensive team lived up to the hype on Friday night at Harbour Station.

Rouyn-Noranda goaltender Zachary Emond improved to 10-0 on the season with a 25-save win over the Saint John Sea Dogs, guiding the Huskies to a 7-1 victory.

The Huskies were in control of the game for its entirety and it certainly looked like a first versus worst battle. Saint John struggled to get the puck out of their own zone at times and couldn't generate any consistent offensive zone pressure.

Rouyn-Noranda entered the game with a league best 2.24 goals against average and improved on that mark on Friday.

Alex Beaucage scored a hat trick for the Huskies while singles came from Patrik Hrehorcak, Mathieu Gagnon, Vincent Marleau and Peter Abbandonato.

Charlie DesRoches scored Saint John's lone goal - his third in three games. Mikhail Denisov was pulled after allowing six goals on 43 shots. Tommy DaSilva made six saves in relief.

Rouyn-Noranda wasted little time opening the scoring. After a Sea Dogs turnover behind their own net, Hrehorcak grabbed the puck and performed a wraparound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead just 1:07 in. Then at 6:52, Gagnon completed a nice passing play by firing the puck into an open cage to double Rouyn-Noranda's lead.

Saint John had three straight power plays to work with in the second period but were unable to generate any sustained offensive zone pressure. The Huskies were then awarded a man advantage where Beaucage ripped a wrist shot top corner past Denisov at 13:07, giving the Huskies a 3-0 lead.

With 27.3 seconds remaining in the middle frame, the Sea Dogs turned the puck over in their own zone. Justin Bergeron threaded a pass to Marleau who beat Denisov with a nice move to his backhand to give Rouyn-Noranda a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes.

2:32 into the third, Beaucage fired a perfectly placed wrist shot past Denisov's glove and into the top corner, extending Rouyn-Noranda's lead to 5-0. At 5:46, Beaucage scored again to give the Huskies a 6-0 advantage. That goal ended Denisov's night in net as DaSilva took over.

DesRoches got Saint John on the board at 8:46, but by that time the game was out of reach. With 2:56 remaining, Abbandonato scored to make it a 7-1 final.

LINEUP

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Alex D'Orio (healthy); forwards Luke Wilson (healthy), Aiden MacIntosh (healthy) and Christian Clark (healthy); along with defenseman Brendan Sibley (injured).

NOTES: The Sea Dogs kept their first line of Yohan Plamondon, Josh Lawrence and Robbie Burt together after a successful Friday night... Saint John went with 11 forwards and seven defenseman for this game. Affiliate Patrick Musico of the MHL's Grand Falls Rapids was the seventh d-man... Mikhail Denisov made his third appearance in net for Saint John... Felix Bibeau, Rouyn-Noranda's leading goal scorer, missed his second straight game with an injury... Nicholas Deakin-Poot was shaken up late in the second period but returned for the third.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts on Wednesday at 7 p.m.