Recap: Sea Dogs lose 5-3

FINAL: Halifax 5, Saint John 3

FREDERICTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs dropped their fourth straight game of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's pre-season on Friday in Fredericton, falling 5-3 to the Halifax Mooseheads.

The Sea Dogs, featuring a mix of veterans and rookies, put in a strong effort against a Mooseheads squad that has already finalized its roster for the upcoming season. Saint John lost another close game to Halifax a couple weeks ago in Dartmouth.

Halifax's top players came to play in this one with Attilio Biasca scoring a pair of goals and singles coming from Brody Fournier, James Swan and Markus Vidicek. Mathis Rousseau made 31 saves in the win.

Veteran forwards Marshall Lessard and Connor Trenholm, both playing in their first pre-season games of the year, and rookie import Eriks Mateiko scored for Saint John. Ventsislav Shingarov made 31 saves in the loss.

Fournier opened the scoring at 12:01 of the first by beating Shingarov five-hole down low. Then at 18:31 and Saint John on the power play, Biasca scored shorthanded to give the Mooseheads a 2-0 advantage after one.

After failing to score on their first power play opportunity in the second period, Lessard connected on the second, making it a 2-1 game at 11:34.

Halifax went on a man advantage at 13:30 where Biasca netted his second of the game to restore Halifax's two-goal lead.

Swan made it 4-1 at 2:49 of the third, coming down the wing and beating Shingarov blocker side. Trenholm quickly got Saint John back within two, redirecting a Vincent Despont point shot at 3:16.

Vidicek deflected a Mathieu Cataford shot at the side of the goal at 9:31 to make it 5-2. Saint John wouldn't go away though as Mateiko scored at 13:10, cutting Halifax's lead to 5-3.

The Sea Dogs pulled their goaltender late in the third but could not net another.

LINEUP

Burns - MacDonald - Lessard

Simek - Trenholm - Reinhart

Mateiko - Burbidge - Elie

Calder - Beaulieu - Barry

Dickie - DesRoches

Pryce - Despont

Gartley - Tracey

Richard

Shingarov

Brideau

DEBUTS: A number of returning Sea Dogs made their pre-season debuts, including Brady Burns, Cam MacDonald, Marshall Lessard, Connor Trenholm and Charlie DesRoches. Newcomers Alpha Barry (trade) and Ryan Pryce (free agent) also made their first appearances with Saint John.

NOTES: The newly acquired Sam-Luca Thifault served the first game of a two-game suspension he received for a high stick on Aug. 27 when he was a member of the Sherbrooke Phoenix... there was a moment of silence before the game to honour Queen Elizabeth II, who visited the UNB campus back in the day... odd to see Cam MacDonald wearing No. 10 and Charlie DesRoches No. 2... Cole Burbidge had a couple great chances to score in this game, including a post in the first period... MacDonald and Brady Burns each had five shots... Connor Trenholm wore an 'A' on his sweater - the first Sea Dog to wear a letter this pre-season... this was the last meeting between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads until early November... Vincent Despont and Attilio Biasca, who both played with Switzerland at this summer's world juniors, chatted on the ice after the game... attendance was 1,159, the biggest crowd of the pre-season in Fredericton this year.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Aitken Centre.