Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-3

FINAL: Shawinigan 3, Saint John 6

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Make it two wins in the span of a week for the Saint John Sea Dogs over the Shawinigan Cataractes.

After a solid 4-2 road win last Friday in Shawinigan, the Sea Dogs produced another strong performance this Friday at TD Station, defeating the Cataractes 6-3.

William Dufour scored a pair while singles came from Brady Burns, Ryan Francis, Nathan Drapeau and Josh Lawrence. Jonathan Lemieux rebounded from a rough outing in his last start, making 30 saves in the win.

The Sea Dogs got off to a good start - something the team struggled with on the road last week - and carried that momentum from there. They got into some penalty trouble in the third period but the game never felt in doubt.

Xavier Bourgault scored twice for Shawinigan while Charles Beaudoin added a solo marker. Antoine Coulombe was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 13 shots. Charles-Antoine Lavallee allowed a goal on 15 shots the rest of the way.

Burns opened the scoring just 33 seconds in to give Saint John a 1-0 lead. Then at 3:42, Dufour was left alone in the circle, picked his spot and ripped a shot past Coulombe.

Shawinigan's league-leading power play went to work at 8:52 when Charlie DesRoches headed off for interference. At 9:32, Olivier Nadeau made a nice feed in front of the net to an open Bourgault who scored to make it a one-goal game.

Saint John's power play went to work at 13:49 which allowed Francis to beat Coulombe top corner to make it a 3-1 game after 20 minutes.

Dufour scored his second of the game at 5:44 of the second period. That would be the end of the night for Coulombe as Lavallee came in to replace him.

The Cataractes responded quickly with Bourgault cutting through the top of the crease at 6:56 and firing the puck over the pad of Lemieux to make it a 4-2 game.

At 11:58, Drapeau scored his first QMJHL goal, firing a perfect wrist shot over the shoulder of Lavallee to make it 5-2 through two.

Francis was given a four-minute penalty - two for tripping and two for unsportsmanlike conduct - at 9:19 of the third, which gave Shawinigan a lengthy five-on-three advantage with Cam MacDonald already in the box. The Sea Dogs produced a solid penalty kill, only giving up a couple of good scoring chances.

Jeremie Poirier was called for holding at 17:26. On the ensuing man advantage, Beaudoin scored to get Shawinigan back within two at 18:04.

The Cataractes pulled Lavallee late. Lawrence secured the victory with an empty net goal at 18:52 to make it a 6-3 final.

LINEUP

Burns - Lawrence - Dufour 

Savoie - Reynolds - Francis

Picard - MacDonald - Bezeau

Crete - Chantler - Sapelnikov

DesRoches - Villeneuve

Poirier - Inniss

Drapeau - Despont

Lemieux

Patenaude 

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defenseman Hunter Gartley along with forwards Cole Foston, Carter McCluskey, Adam Bowness and Nico Laforge.

NEW FACE: The only change to Saint John's lineup was the addition of 19-year-old forward Jacob Chantler, a London, Ont. native who was picked up by the team this week. Wearing No. 67, Chantler was a +1 and went 3/8 in the faceoff circle.

WELCOME BACK: The Cataractes got some help with Xavier Bourgault, Charles Beaudoin and Zachary Massicotte all returning from injury. Bourgault was hurt last Friday in Shawinigan's 4-2 home loss to the Sea Dogs.

NADEAU VS DUFOUR: William Dufour scored his league leading 13th and 14th goals of the season in the first period, pushing him past Shawinigan's Olivier Nadeau.

Can't stop this top line! William Dufour with his 13th goal of the season! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Gj9wLg4Qb4

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 12, 2021

HOME STREAKS: Brady Burns and Jeremie Poirier wasted little time extending their home point streaks. Burns scored just 33 seconds into the game to extend his streak to nine games (which is every home game this season) while Poirier assisted on Ryan Francis' power play marker at 13:56 to extend his streak to eight games.

BIG TILT: Quite a fight between Riley Bezeau and Charles Beaudoin in the first period.

#SeaDogs Riley Bezeau drops the mitts with Shawinigan's Charles Beaudoin. #QMJHL pic.twitter.com/nCuWl7AjIt

— John Moore (@rinkrant) November 13, 2021

FIRST GOAL: Nathan Drapeau netted his first career QMJHL goal in he second period - and it was an impressive goal by the defensive defenseman.

Nathan Drapeau's first goal in the QMJHL and it's a beauty 🤩 pic.twitter.com/5KdvXeRioS

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 13, 2021

NOTES: Before the game, Peter Reynolds was honoured as the Sea Dogs' student of the month for October... this was the final meeting of the regular season between the Sea Dogs and Cataractes... the Sea Dogs scored first in a game for just the seventh time this season... the Sea Dogs scored a season high six goals... Josh Lawrence had three assists to go along with his empty net goal.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Chicoutimi Sagueneens tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.