In a game that won't soon be forgotten, the Saint John Sea Dogs blew a five-goal lead in a 6-5 loss to the Cape Breton Eagles on Saturday night at Centre 200. It was Saint John's first loss of the 2019-20 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League campaign after winning both of their games last weekend.
While all the talk will be about Saint John blowing a 5-0 second period lead, the talk should probably be more on the fact that the Sea Dogs simply did not play well and are definitely still a notch below the Eagles.
Saint John was fortunate to ever be up 5-0, scoring five goals on just 10 shots. The Sea Dogs were heavily outshot for much of the game and they could not match the pressure the Eagles were putting on them. Zachary Bouthillier was a busy guy in net, facing 54 shots.
Still, being on the good side of some puck luck is no reason to blow a 5-0 lead. Giving up five or six goals in any game isn't good - but in this fashion, it was especially ugly. While the Sea Dogs are still young and expected to hit some bumps this year, this is a season where improvement should start to be seen. Hopefully this loss will spark some further progress. Let's not forget the ugly 4-0 loss in Charlottetown the Sea Dogs suffered in the early Gerard Gallant days - a loss that seemingly sparked the entire franchise.
The turning point in Saturday's game seemed to be a Nathan Larose (a former Sea Dog) fight, which was followed a little later on by three straight Eagles goal. Once Cape Breton got a couple, you got the feeling this game could be close. Once they reached three, you got the feeling this game might not end well for Saint John.
Ryan Francis, Felix Lafrance, Liam Kidney, Jarrett Baker, Derek Gentile and Shawn Boudrias scored for Cape Breton. Kevin Mandolese was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. William Grimard made 10 saves in relief - the only goal he allowed came on the first shot he faced.
Dawson Stairs scored twice for Saint John while singles came from Aiden MacIntosh, Ben Badalamenti and Nicholas Deakin-Poot.
The good news is that this, at the end of the day, was just two points lost. A painful just two points lost, but still just two points. The Sea Dogs play in Sydney again tomorrow, giving the team a chance to quickly forget about this night.
LINEUP
GOOD START: Dawson Stairs has gotten his first full season in the QMJHL off to a good start. Stairs now has three goals in three games thanks to a pair scored in this game.
DEBUTS: American forward Matt Gould made his QMJHL debut and recorded an assist. Forward Julian Vander Voet also made his debut.
LOADED PP: Saint John used four forwards on their top power play unit with William Villeneuve - who has the hot stick to start this season - as the lone defenseman.
BIG TILT: One of the turning points of this game seemed to be the fight between former Sea Dog Nathan Larose and forward Julian Vander Voet. The Sea Dogs rookie was left bloody and missed a large chunk of the game, sporting a full cage when he did return. It was 5-0 Saint John at the time of the fight.
SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS: The Sea Dogs were outshot 54-20, allowing 20 shots in both the second and third periods. The 54 shots by the Eagles was the most by any team so far in this very early season.
GOALS: Some positive news is that scoring has not been an issue for Saint John so far, scoring four times in both games last weekend and putting up five tonight. The Dogs were scoring on just about every shot in the first half of this game, which has to give the club some confidence.
THE WINNER: There was some drama late in the third when it appeared the Eagles had tied the game 5-5 only for the goal to be called off. Obviously it ended up not mattering, but it created some extra drama - as if the game needed any more.
STILL PERFECT: This may be a bit surprising, but the Eagles are the only team in the QMJHL to have not suffered a loss yet this season. Every other team has lost in either regulation or extra time.The Sea Dogs dodge a bullet as an apparent tying goal was waved off due to an Eagles penalty at 5:24 of the third.— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) September 29, 2019
The Sea Dogs power play goes to work. #SeaDogs15
NOTES: This was Cape Breton's home opener. Attendance was 3,914... Brady Burns recorded two assists... the Sea Dogs scored their second shorthanded goal of the season... there was another fight in the game, this one between Aiden MacIntosh and Kyle Havlena. The tilt came after Havlena put a big open ice hit on Burns.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet again on at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Centre 200.
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