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| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
It didn't even feel like the Memorial Cup hosts had the pedal down for a lot of the game but they still cruised to a victory. The Sea Dogs were able to stay in it during the first period but they couldn't hang with the Oceanic beyond that.
Still, it was a strong bounce back performance by the Sea Dogs after an ugly 8-1 loss to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens the night before. Saint John has had respectable performances against some of the league's top teams this year, such as Rimouski, Drummondville and Moncton.
Maël St-Denis netted a hat trick for Rimouski; former Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko scored twice; and singles came from Jacob Mathieu and Jonathan Fauchon. Mathis Langevin made 29 saves in the win.
Tyler Peddle, Dylan Rozzi and William Yared all scored for Saint John. Justin Robinson made 30 saves in the loss.
The Oceanic led 3-2 after a fairly even opening frame. Peddle opened the scoring 3:50 in only to have Mathieu tie things up at 6:17.
Rozzi put Saint John back in front with a power play goal at 12:51, depositing a rebound at the side of the net. But Rimouski quickly tied it again with St-Denis redirecting a point shot at 15:56.
The Oceanic took their first lead of the game when Mateiko scored his second goal as an Oceanic, ripping a shot past Robinson to make it 3-2 at 16:40.
Rimouski grabbed a 4-2 lead just 2:34 into thee second when St-Denis banged in a rebound on a power play. Later on at 12:21, Fauchon, the league's leading scorer, walked into the high slot and beat a screened Robinson with a wrist shot to make it 5-2.
The Oceanic scored another power play goal at 13:16 of the third when St-Denis finished off a nice passing play by scoring on a one timer from the slot, which made it 6-2.
The Sea Dogs got on the board again at 16:22 when Yared scored on a power play to make it 6-3. Saint John pulled Robinson in the final few minutes, allowing Mateiko to add an empty net goal.
LINEUP
Rozzi - Groulx - Yared
Peddle - Dubé - Beveridge
M. Krayer - D. Krayer - Cross
Calder - Beaulieu - Wagner
Tivey - Amyot
Bilodeau - Mann
Lumsden - MacLean
Robinson
Weeks
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Zachary Morin (injury) and Darien Reynolds (injury) along with defensemen Olivier Duhamel (injury) and Julien Bonnet (healthy).
HE'S BACK: Former Sea Dogs captain Eriks Mateiko made his return to Saint John. Before the game, there was a lengthy video tribute played for Mateiko and he was presented with his final Sea Dogs jersey by his billet family. The Oceanic placed the big forward in their starting lineup. Mateiko scored twice and had two shots in the game.
Eriks Mateiko is back in Saint John. pic.twitter.com/VFqqP8AYLA
— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) January 24, 2025
NOTES: This was the second and final meeting of the regular season between the Sea Dogs and Oceanic. There is a chance the two could meet in the first round of the playoffs... Saint John ended a streak of nine straight games where they allowed the first goal... with two assists in this game, Ben Cross has points in back-to-back contests... Rimouski captain Jacob Mathieu was in a lot of pain after blocking a shot at the end of the second period. He did return for the third... Alexandre Blais had four assists... Egan Beveridge had seven shots... this was Saint John's final home game until Feb. 5... William Yared and Tyler Peddle each scored their team leading 11th goals of the year (Mateiko still technically leads with 14)... attendance was 2,305.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax to face the Mooseheads on Sunday at 3 p.m.
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