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Saturday, April 24, 2021

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 4-2

FINAL: Saint John 2, Moncton 4
Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
MONCTON - There weren't too many positives in the Saint John Sea Dogs' 4-2 loss to the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday at Avenir Centre.

The Sea Dogs seemed to lack intensity and urgency against a team - their biggest rival - that was missing six regulars and coming off a road game the night before. Saint John struggled all night - even on the power play - to create sustained offensive zone pressure and generate quality chances.

The loss puts Saint John in a hole in this round-robin playoff tournament. The team now has a 1-2 record which puts some serious pressure on them Sunday night when they host the 2-0 Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Maxim Barbashev, Connor Richard, Alexis Daniel and Jacob Hudson all scored for the Wildcats. Dakota Lund-Cornish made 22 saves in the win.

Riley Bezeau and Cam MacDonald scored for Saint John. Zachary Emond made 25 saves in the loss.

Bezeau opened the scoring at 8:54, blasting a shot past Lund-Cornish. The Wildcats evened things up at 17:19 when Barbashev ripped a shot past Emond.

Saint John went to the power play at 5:54 of the middle frame and had a good opportunity to create some momentum - but they were unable to generate any quality chances. Then at 11:19 - on a power play - Richard fired a shot from the circle the went five hole on Emond and trickled across the line to give the 'Cats their first lead.

Moncton made it 3-1 at 16:56 when a shot hit a body in front of the net, allowing Daniel to grab the loose puck and put it past Emond.

With 2:05 remaining in the second, Francis nearly got Saint John back within one. The play was reviewed and the call on the ice stood: no goal. Replays showed Francis had kicked the puck across the line.

The Sea Dogs had a power play early in the third period but couldn't record a single shot on goal. Fortunately MacDonald scored at even strength at 5:06 to get the Dogs back within one. Despite the goal, momentum didn't really go in anyone's favour. Saint John recorded just two shots in the opening 10 minutes of the period.

Saint John finally started to turn it on a bit in the final five minutes but kept running into Moncton bodies and turned the puck over repeatedly. Hudson added some insurance with an empty net goal at 19:52 to make it a 4-2 final.

LINEUP
Girouard - Lawrence - Francis
Burns - MacDonald - Kotkov
Alchorn - Reynolds - Bezeau
Leonard - Carruthers

Poirier - Villeneuve
McCallum - DesRoches
Drapeau - Inniss
Casey

Emond
Patenaude

SCRATCHES: Forwards Carter McCluskey, Simon Hughes, Charles Savoie (injured) along with defensemen Sam Dow, Hunter Gartley (injured) and Jan Hampl (not arrived). Dow was scratched after warmup.

CHANGES: Up front, Cam MacDonald and Peter Reynolds swapped places. Liam Leonard returned from suspension so Carter McCluskey drew out. Charlie DesRoches returned from injury on the backend meaning Sam Dow came out.

HURTING: The Wildcats were without Sam McKinney, Philippe Daoust, Yoan Loshing, Vincent Labelle and Francis Langlois all due to injuries. Owen Stammer was also serving the final game of a three-game suspension. Langlois, Moncton's leading playoff scorer so far, was hurt late in Friday's game in Bathurst.
NO GOAL: Ryan Francis was really trying to sell this goal on the ice. The call on the ice was no goal and was confirmed after video review.
NOTES: Zachary Emond made a third straight start... Liam Leonard and Jacob Hudson both returned from suspensions... the game's first penalty wasn't called until 5:54 of the second period... Riley Bezeau had a Sea Dogs high four shots... hits were 16-9 in favour of Moncton... the attendance was 2,277.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Titan tomorrow night at TD Station. Note the 7 p.m. start time.
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