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SAINT JOHN - It was a night to forget for the Saint John Sea Dogs but one that will no doubt be remembered for some time.

For a franchise that's been blessed with playoff success throughout its history, Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Rimouski Oceanic was one of the lowest points. Losing in the first round of the President Cup playoffs in a "go for it" season is never good, but losing in the opening round when you're the Memorial Cup host is pretty much a worst case scenario.

There's a strong argument to be made that this lengthy break could give the Sea Dogs an advantage at the Memorial Cup, which we saw in 2012 with Shawinigan and 2017 with Windsor. Many of the Spitfires said at the 2017 tournament that they were in the best shape of their careers. But let's be real: it's hard to view this first round loss as a good thing right now. There's not a single player, coach or fan that headed into this series saying, "in the long run, we'd be better off losing this."

The Sea Dogs did not look like the Sea Dogs we saw down the stretch, a team that ended the regular season on a 15-game winning streak. Saint John struggled to click offensively throughout the series and had breakdowns defensively that cost them - especially in the decisive Game 5.

A lot of credit has to be given to Oceanic head coach Serge Beausoleil, who put on a masterclass in pulling off a playoff upset. Rimouski shutdown Saint John's top offensive players, got good (and often great) goaltending and took advantage of the scoring chances they were given. The Oceanic, who also played the final three games of this series without two of their top players in Xavier Cormier and Julien Beland, deserved this series win.

The goal that knocked out the Sea Dogs 👀

Rimouski's Alexander Gaudio with the GM5 winner just 30 seconds into OT. Sending the hottest team heading into the playoffs home.@oceanicrimouski | #RoadtoMemorialCup pic.twitter.com/rHTnz7tbUy

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 13, 2022

It was an odd series, perhaps made stranger by the best-of-five format. If the Sea Dogs had showed up to play in Game 1, they could have, in theory, swept this series. Now the team has to deal with a nearly 40-day layoff from game action. Lapses like that Game 1 loss proved costly in this series - and they'll prove costly again in June if the team doesn't clean things up. They've got plenty of time to figure things out - but there are plenty of things to figure out.

A few other notes and thoughts before we move this series deep into the memory bank:

• You knew the Sea Dogs were in major trouble in the second period. The team got off to a bad start in the first, which happens. They looked much better at the end of the opening frame and seemed to be energized by Ryan Francis' power play goal. But instead of carrying that momentum into the second, the Sea Dogs came out flat, icing the puck several times and getting heavily outshot by the Oceanic. Saint John was lucky to only be trailing by one halfway through the game.
• Nikolas Hurtubise kept the Sea Dogs in this game at times, making several huge saves. Even though he didn't start the game, he was probably Saint John's best player. Thomas Couture was pulled after allowing two goals on four shots - both of which came off defensive breakdowns by the Sea Dogs.
• Hurtubise and captain Vincent Sevigny, who both won the President Cup with Victoriaville last season, were visibly upset/frustrated by the loss. Hurtubise sat in his crease for a few minutes after the winning goal. After the handshakes, the netminder left the ice to a loud ovation from Sea Dogs fans.
• It was a rough game for Sevigny, who was so good for the Sea Dogs in the second half. He got burned by Rimouski's speed a few times and finished a -4.
• Sevigny was one of three Sea Dogs (Jeremie Poirier and William Villeneuve the others) who finished top-eight in regular season scoring by defensemen. In this series, that trio had a combined five assists with Poirier earning three of them.
• You have to give the Oceanic a lot of credit for their defensive play. Saint John's top line of William Dufour (two goals and two assists), Josh Lawrence (one assist) and Brady Burns (no points) struggled to get going the entire series. Burns was benched for much of Game 5 and was replaced by Raivis Ansons, who ended up leading the team in playoff scoring (two goals and three assists). Overager Philippe Daoust wasn't able to register a shot on goal in the final two games.
• You need depth in the playoffs, and Saint John's bottom two lines did provide some energy throughout Game 5, scoring two of the team's three goals. You knew guys like Riley Bezeau, Cam MacDonald and Olivier Picard would setup in the playoffs.
• As mentioned before, Yan Kuznetsov (who was quite good in this series) missed Game 1 with an illness and Ryan Francis missed Game 4 for similar reasons. Have to wonder if the team wasn't quite 100%.
• Another early sign that it was going to be an off-night for the Sea Dogs on Thursday: the team allowed a shorthanded goal for just the fifth time all year, allowing the Oceanic to go up 2-0.
• The Oceanic went 0/17 on the power play in the series. There can't be too many teams (if any) in QMJHL history that won a series without scoring a single power play goal.
• Saint John's Game 5 performance reminded me of how Team Canada often plays in the medal round of the world juniors. After being on cruise control for awhile, the team hit a road bump and the nerves and pressure of the moment got inside their heads. Being the Memorial Cup host no doubt adds a lot of pressure.
• Only 2,872 fans attended the do-or-die Game 5 (the atmosphere was decent, at least). There are a million reasons why people aren't attending hockey games right now, but a team of this quality should be playing in front of larger crowds than this come playoff time.
• You have to feel for the players and the staff, but you also have to feel for the fans who stuck through a full rebuild and the COVID chaos only to be rewarded with a single five-game playoff series. Hopefully the Memorial Cup can ease some of the disappointment.
• This is just the second time in franchise history that the Sea Dogs lost a playoff series when they were the higher seeded team. The 2010 President Cup final, which had the odd scheduling format due to Moncton Coliseum booking issues, being the other.