RECAP: Homeward Bound. Dogs Lose 3-2.

FINAL: Saint John 2, Shawinigan 3 (OT)

The Saint John Sea Dogs salvaged a point in the final game of their three-game road trip.

Playing at Centre Bionest for the first time since the 2012 Memorial Cup semi-final game, the Sea Dogs fell 3-2 to the Shawinigan Cataractes in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday.

This was the final game of a three-game Quebec road trip for Saint John. They’ll head home with one point thanks to today’s OT loss. The Sea Dogs have now lost six straight.

Spencer Smallman scored his first QMJHL goal today. Noah Zilbert scored Saint John’s other goal. Sebastien Auger made 42 saves in the loss.

Shawinigan had goals from Alexandre Delisle-Houde, Peter Sakaris, and Frank Schumacher. Marvin Cupper made 34 saves for the win.

FIRST PERIOD

Shawinigan headed to the power play just 33 seconds in. Nothing happened.

A few minutes later, Andreas Tsogkas sent the puck on net. It was loose in the crease but Jason Cameron was unable to shoot it past Marvin Cupper. On the next shift at the other end, Sebastien Auger made a big glove save.

At 5:38, Alexandre Delisle-Houde showed off some skill in front and deked out Auger to score his first QMJHL goal. That made it 1-0 for the home side.

The Cataractes were buzzing after the goal and created a few good scoring chances but were unable to add to their lead.

The two teams then went back-and-forth for a bit. Mackenzie Brown took a big hit along the boards from JC Campagna.

Some rough stuff at 18:49 setup some four-on-four play for the rest of the period. Frederick Gaudreau had a great chance late in the frame but couldn’t get it to go.

Shots were 14-12 Saint John in the first.

GAMEDAY 50 - at Shawinigan

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Shawinigan Cataractes

Today at 5:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Centre Bionest – Shawinigan, Que.

PREVIEW

SHAWINIGAN, Que. – A lot has changed since the last time the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes met at Centre Bionest.

The two teams are just shells of their former selves. The last time they met in Shawinigan was in May in the Memorial Cup semi-final game where both teams were battling for a spot in the national final. Today, both are fighting for a playoff spot.

A year ago at this time Saint John and Shawinigan were battling for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Now they sit 15^th and 17^th overall, respectively. That’s junior hockey for ya. The players have changed. The coaches have changed. But hopefully the rivalry these two teams built will continue.

Saint John enters play today with a 19-30-0-0 record which places them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall. The Sea Dogs have hit rough waters over the past month as they have lost five straight and are just 1-9-0-0 in their past 10 games.

This is the final game of a three-game Quebec road trip for Saint John. They lost 2-1 in Victoriaville on Wednesday and 6-3 in Gatineau last night. They are 9-16-0-0 on the road this season. As Tim Roszell said during last night’s broadcast, games like today's are games the Sea Dogs need to pick up points in.

Jakub Izacky leads Saint John in scoring with 15 goals and nine assists for 24 points in 44 games. Stephen Anderson has had a strong road trip so far, recording two goals and an assist.

Shawinigan currently sits out of the playoff picture with an 11-32-4-2 record which places them last in the Telus East Division and 17^th overall in the league. They are six points back of the Sherbrooke Phoenix who hold the final playoff spot.

The 2012 Memorial Cup winners have had a good stretch of games recently. They are 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 contests and are 1-0-1-0 in their last two games.

Shawinigan has struggled to score much like Saint John and have a league low 109 goals for this season. Peter Sakaris leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 47 games.

POSTSCRIPT: Sea Dogs 3, Olympiques 6

A collection of recaps from last night’s 6-3 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Gatineau Olympiques…

Our recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs have now lost five straight games.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Martin Reway and Derek Sheppard each scored twice and Tomas Hyka had three assists as the Olympiques (22-24-3) doubled up Saint John (19-30-0), which is winless in five games.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs continued the road trip, visiting the Gatineau Olympiques on Friday. The Olympiques came out on top 6-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Matthew Highmore (lower body), Connor Donaghey (shoulder), Michael Abbott (lower body), and Brett Malone (personal reasons) on Friday night.

News 88.9 reports that Highmore is out indefinitely for this road trip and will be re-evaluated when the team returns home. He left Wednesday’s game in the second period with a lower body issue. The rookie forward missed most of the first half recovery from shoulder surgery.

ANDERSON: Stephen Anderson now has goals in back-to-back games after opening the scoring at 18:29 of the first. The goal came on the power play after Gatineau was called for too many men. It was a nice reward for a pretty good first period by the Dogs. Shots were 11-9 Saint John after 20 minutes.

REPE: Defenseman Jurij Repe finally made his return to the Saint John lineup. He had not played with the team since November 25 because he broke his hand at the Division 1 world juniors. The Slovenian made an immediate impact, assisting on Stephen Anderson’s first period goal. He finished the game with two assists, two shots, and two penalty minutes.

RECAP: Misconducts For All. Dogs Lose 6-3.

FINAL: Saint John 3, Gatineau 6

The Saint John Sea Dogs have now lost five straight games.

Their latest loss was on Friday night in Gatineau where the Olympiques defeated the Sea Dogs 6-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

It seemed like a normal game after the first period. Saint John even led 1-0. But in the second, Gatineau scored three times. Then in a nasty third period, things just got completely out of hand as penalties and misconducts were being handed out faster than the CHL Online Network could handle. It was ugly. The Dogs ended the game with 12 skaters.

Seven of the nine goals scored tonight were done so on the power play – four by Gatineau and three by Saint John.

Olivier LeBlanc, Marcus Cuomo, and Stephen Anderson scored for the Sea Dogs. Alex Fournier had another decent game, making 20 saves in the loss.

Martin Reway and Derek Sheppard each scored twice for Gatineau while singles came from Rock Regimbald and Simon Tardif-Richard. Robert Steeves made 20 saves in the win.

FIRST PERIOD

Tomas Hyka headed off at 2:23, sending Saint John to the power play. Gatineau had a decent shorthanded chance while the Dogs couldn’t get much of anything going.

Sea Dogs goaltender Alex Fournier then made several stops over the next few minutes.

Gatineau headed to the power play at 10:00. They had some good pressure on but could not connect. Oliver Cooper had a decent shorthanded opportunity.

Saint John headed back to the man advantage at 12:03. Once again, the Dogs couldn’t get much of anything going offensively.

Soon after, the Dogs were buzzing a bit in the Gatineau zone. Mickael Beauregard laid a big hit on Oliver Cooper behind the Olympiques crease which created a crowd. Justin Dickinson was given a roughing penalty for his involvement in the scrum, sending Gatineau back on the power play at 15:38. Not much happened during the two minute span.

Gatineau had six men on the ice at 17:49. That is against the rules – true story. On the power play, Robert Steeves made a save on Jurij Repe’s shot but Stephen Anderson was parked in front and potted the rebound to give Saint John a 1-0 lead at 18:29.

Shots were 11-9 Saint John in the opening frame.

GAMEDAY 49 - at Gatineau

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Gatineau Olympiques

Tonight at 8:30pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Robert Guertin Arena – Gatineau, Que.

PREVIEW

GATINEAU, Que. – Two teams on losing streaks meet tonight in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

The Saint John Sea Dogs, losers of four straight, are in Gatineau to face the Olympiques, losers of two straight, tonight at 8:30pm. It’s been a rougher stretch for the Sea Dogs who are just 1-9-0-0 over their past 10 games.

The Dogs enter play tonight with a 19-29-0-0 record which is good for fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall. The top 16 teams make the playoffs and the Sherbrooke Phoenix, who are four points back of Saint John, hold the final spot.

This is the second game of a three-game road trip through Quebec for the Port City juniors. They fell 2-1 in Victoriaville on Wednesday, battle the Olympiques this evening, and travel to Shawinigan for a 5pm rematch of the Memorial Cup semi-final tomorrow.

Jakub Izacky leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points in 43 games.

Gatineau enters play this evening with a 21-24-1-2 record and sit fifth in the Telus West Division and 13^th overall in the league. They are seven points ahead of Saint John in the standings.

Emile Poirier leads the ‘Piques in scoring with 20 goals and 27 assists for 47 points in 45 games.

Both of these teams are fighting for playoff positioning. Only seven points separate them in the standings. Let’s hope it’s a good one.

Good Night For Two Former Dogs

It was a good night for two former Saint John Sea Dogs on Thursday.

For the first time since opening night, Jonathan Huberdeau found the score sheet for the Florida Panthers. He scored an insurance marker at 15:29 of a wild third period in the Panthers 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

Huberdeau also had two shots, a +1 rating, and 13:20 of ice time. He now has a total of two goals and two assists in seven games this season. Florida improved to 2-5-0 with the win.

In Pittsburgh’s 3-0 win over the New York Rangers last night, Simon Despres helped set up what proved to be the game winner and scored a goal in the third period. His goal was nice. Real nice.