Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-2

FINAL: Saint John 5, Rimouski 2

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

RIMOUSKI, Que. - The Saint John Sea Dogs are a win away from advancing to the second round of the President Cup playoffs.

Philippe Daoust scored two shorthanded goals to lead the Sea Dogs to a 5-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Monday at Colisee Financiere Sun Life. The victory gives the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five first round series heading into Tuesday's Game 4.

The Sea Dogs got off to a less-than-ideal start, allowing the Oceanic to open the scoring just 2:13 in. Daoust tied the match on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:52 of the opening frame and then Cam MacDonald scored at 15:24 to make it 2-1 Saint John at intermission.

Saint John dominated the second period at times, carrying the play for most of the frame. The Oceanic got back within one in the third period but Saint John quickly added on a couple more insurance goals to secure the win.

Along with Daoust and MacDonald, William Dufour and Raivis Ansons also scored. Riley Bezeau and Charlie DesRoches each had a pair of assists.

Thomas Couture, who has started all three games of this series, made 22 stops in the win.

The Oceanic, who were missing two of their top forwards due to injury, had goals from Luka Verreault and Alex Drover. Gabriel Robert, who was pulled in Game 2, made 32 saves in the loss.

LINEUP

Burns - Lawrence - Dufour

Trenholm - Daoust - Francis

Ansons - MacDonald - Bezeau

Picard - Reynolds - Lessard

Sevigny - Villeneuve

Kuznetsov - Poirier

Drapeau - DesRoches

Couture

Hurtubise

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Noah Patenaude (injury); defensemen Vincent Despont (healthy) and Hunter Gartley (healthy); and forwards Jacob Chantler (injury), Nicholas Blagden (healthy) and Nico Laforge (healthy). The team listed 13 forwards in their lineup with Blagden the final scratch.

HURTING: The Oceanic were without a few key regulars in Xavier Cormier, Julien Beland and Luke Coughlin. Cormier, the team's leading scorer in the regular season, and Beland were both on the Oceanic's top line in Friday's game. Sea Dogs radio broadcaster John Moore reported that Beland will be out for the series with a concussion while Coughlin suffered a broken collarbone Friday.

SHORTY: Something you don't see everyday: a shorthanded breakaway scored via slap shot. This was Philippe Daoust's first career QMJHL playoff goal.

We've got three goals going into the final period.

First, Philippe Daoust ripped one short handed to tie the game up in the first! #CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/xX4HuVQnYK

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 10, 2022

BEZEAU FEED: Riley Bezeau made a beautiful move to get the shot off that led to Philippe Daoust's second shorthanded goal. Bezeau now has eight points in nine career playoff games.

Finally, Philippe Daoust finished the second period off with ANOTHER shorthanded goal! #CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/MhrbbyG5PW

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 10, 2022

LONG TIME COMING: It had been over five years since the Sea Dogs last won a game in Rimouski. The team's last win at Colisee Financiere Sun Life was March 29, 2017 - Game 4 of the 2017 President Cup playoffs opening round.

Feb. 11, 2022: 6-1 loss

Jan. 28, 2020: 3-2 loss

Nov. 1, 2018: 9-1 loss

Jan. 14, 2018: 8-1 loss

March 29, 2017: 4-3 win

NOTES: There wasn't a ton of rough stuff after whistles, but there was more than the previous two games... the Sea Dogs, who successfully killed off three penalties, still have not allowed a power play goal in this series... former Sea Dogs forward Alex Drover recorded his first point of the series, scoring in the third period... William Dufour had five shots... Vincent Sevigny had four hits... Monday games don't happen after, so this was a rare sight... attendance was 2,528 - a larger crowd than both Game 1 and 2 in Saint John.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Oceanic meet for Game 4 tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. in Rimouski.