Isles drop preseason finale 4-3 to the Sea Dogs
The Islanders finished 3-2-1 in the 2023 preseason after suffering a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Saint John Sea Dogs.
The action started quickly as less than five minutes in, Sea Dogs forward, Eriks Mateiko, rushed up the left side and beat Aksels Ozols to give Saint John a 1-0 lead.
Ondrej Maruna responded less than two minutes later with a goal of his own. His second of the preseason, assisted by Simon Hughes and Cole Huckins, tied the game at one goal apiece.
Ozols turned away the rest of the shots in the frame and took the Isles into the first intermission tied 1-1.
The momentum at the start of the 2nd period was on the Sea Dogs’ side and Vince Elie would restore the lead for the Sea Dogs, sliding it five-hole past Ozols after getting in alone.
Just over two minutes later, Saint John would double up on their lead as Joseph Ianiello scored his first of the preseason to make it 3-1.
The action once again didn’t take long to get going in the third as just 38 seconds in, Cole Huckins would tap in a cross-ice feed from Giovanni Morneau to cut the lead to one goal for the Sea Dogs.
Marcus Kearsey carried the momentum and floated one from the point over Sea Dogs goalie, Patrick Leaver to tie the game at 3 goals apiece.
Leaver made a flurry of saves to keep the game tied, battling off the Isles high-pressure offense.
Mathew Butler would turn the puck over in the defensive end, causing a two-on-one for the Sea Dogs, but Alexis Michaud had a great defensive effort to stop the rush.
With only 32 seconds left, Noah Reinhart would snipe a goal top-shelf on Ozols to give the Sea Dogs the late game lead and eventually the win.
Ozols looked sharp, stopping 28 out of 32 shots in the loss.
Coach Jim Hulton provided an update on Ross Campbell, who left the game after a scrum in the second period with an apparent injury.
“He’s fine, just held up to be cautious.”
The Isles are back on the ice on Friday, Sep. 22 to open the regular season against the Mooseheads at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax
