The long-time Quebec rival of the Sea Dogs managed to get a point in their final regular season contest on Saturday, falling 5-4 in overtime to the Victoriaville Tigres. Shawinigan needed Saint John to lose - which they did, falling 6-4 to the Moncton Wildcats - and earn a point to take the final playoff spot.
The "reward" for the Cataractes is a first-round meeting with the top ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Keeping one of those games close should be considered a success for Shawinigan.
The Sea Dogs are no doubt disappointed, especially knowing they controlled their own fate on Saturday - if they had won, the Sea Dogs would have taken the final playoff spot no matter what happened in the Shawinigan game.
Saint John trailed 5-1 entering the third period at Avenir Centre but rallied for three unanswered goals to make a game of it. But unlike Friday in Halifax, the Dogs were unable to tie the match late.
Josh Lawrence, Nicholas Deakin-Poot, James White and William Poirier all scored for Saint John. Mikhail Denisov, playing in what proved to be his final game of junior, made 27 saves in the loss.
Mika Cyr, Tristan DeJong, Gabriel Sylvestre, Dylan Seitz, Jakob Pelletier and Brady Pataki all scored for Moncton. The rarely used Charles-Antoine Lavallee made 24 saves in the win.
Saint John finishes the regular season with a record of 13-49-2-4. This was the worst season in club history for wins, regulation time losses and points. The team misses the playoffs for a second straight season and for a fifth time in club history.
LINEUP
NOTES: Affiliate Alexis Belisle was in the lineup... Josh Lawrence ends the season on a three-game point streak. He recorded three goals and four assists in four of his final five games... defenseman Benjamin Gagne and Michael Campoli along with goaltender Mikhail Denisov all played their final games of junior hockey... Saint John finished the year 4-26-0-4 on the road.
NEXT GAME: See y'all at the Draft.
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