RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 4-3

FINAL: Shawinigan 4, Saint John 3

SAINT JOHN - The Shawinigan Cataractes are on a roll.

The Cataractes scored four unanswered goals in their fifth straight win on Saturday night at TD Station, defeating the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3.

The Sea Dogs took a 3-0 lead thanks to two early second period goals. But once the Cataractes got on the board with a power play goal 9:12 of the middle frame, momentum slowly began to shift to the other end of the ice.

Saint John struggled to generate many quality scoring chances in the second half of the game with Shawinigan controlling puck possession for much of it. The Sea Dogs simply let yet another winnable game slip away.

Gabriel Denis scored twice for Shawinigan while Vasily Ponomarev and Charles Beaudoin also scored. Antoine Coulombe made 24 saves in the win.

James White, Brady Burns and William Villeneuve scored for Saint John. Zachary Bouthillier made 32 saves in the loss.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs website has a full game recap.

LINEUP

Here's a look at tonight's Sea Dogs lineup, brought to you by @CantrburyDental. #AlwaysWearYourMouthguard pic.twitter.com/b0oYU5MIUT

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 30, 2019

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defensemen Patrick Musico (injured) and Olivier DesRoches (healthy); along with forwards Alexis Belisle (healthy), Aidan MacIntosh (healthy) and Jeremie Jacob (healthy).

SCRATCHED AGAIN: Alexis Belisle (last played on Nov. 15), Aidan MacIntosh (Nov. 14) and Jeremie Jacob (Nov. 15) have been healthy scratches for a few weeks now. Of note, MacIntosh is no longer listed on the team's online roster.

GOOD KILL: Matt Gould was given a four-minute penalty for high sticking at 7:18 of the first. Saint John's penalty kill struggles have been well documented this season (they entered the game with the league's worst penalty kill of 68.6%) but only allowed one shot on goal during the span, delivering one of their best kills of the season.

FIRST: James White scored his first goal of the season in the opening frame. It was his first goal since since March 16. The goal was originally given to Julian Vander Voet but changed at intermission.

FEELING THE BURNS: Brady Burns now has goals in three straight games and four in his past five. November was a good month for Burns, netting five goals and adding seven assists.

STREAKING: Mavrik Bourque extended his point streak to 15 games on Saturday. That includes a goal and five assists in two games against the Sea Dogs.

UNLIKELY LOSS: Saint John was 6-1 when leading after one period and 10-2 when leading after two before this loss.

NOTES: Shawinigan's Mikael Robidoux continues to serve a 10-game suspension he was given on Nov. 17... the inflatable Sea Dog was deflated after the starting lineup was announced, causing some difficulties for the remaining players to hit the ice... this was the second game of a three-game road trip for the Cataractes. The club played in Sydney on Thursday (and watched the Sea Dogs defeat the Eagles on Wednesday night) and will head to Bathurst on Sunday... Jordan Spadafore had his third fight of the season in the first period... after not scoring all of October, William Villeneuve finishes November with three goals... the announced attendance of 2,826 has to be one of the smallest Saturday crowds in team history... Maxim Cajkovic has been held pointless in two straight games.

HIGHLIGHTS


NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada tomorrow at 3 p.m.