RECAP: Sea Dogs drop first of back-to-back games in Cape Breton
SYDNEY, NS – Despite goals from key players and firing 41 total shots, the Saint John Sea Dogs ultimately fell 6-3 to the Cape Breton Eagles at Centre 200 on Saturday night.
Tyler Peddle, Zach Morin, and Olivier Groulx each scored to move into a tie for the team lead with 15 goals on the season.
Romain Litalien and Joseph Henneberry each notched two goals for the Eagles, while Brayden Schmitt and Tomas Lavoie tallied one apiece.
GAME SUMMARY
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead 13:02 into the first when Brayden Schmitt stepped into a powerful one-timer from the slot after a rebound. Just 55 seconds later, Aiden McCullough found Romain Litalien out front, who tucked it past Eric Young on the backhand to make it 2-0.
With four minutes remaining in the period, Tyler Peddle intercepted a pass in his own zone before beating Jakub Milota five-hole to put the Dogs within one.
Cape Breton extended their lead to 3-1 at 4:55 of the second when Jacob Newcombe circled the zone before finding Joseph Henneberry with a hard pass that bounced off his skate and in. With 4:45 left in the frame, Lewis Gendron won a faceoff to Tomas Lavoie, who walked in, dangled around Young, and buried it to push the Eagles lead to 4-1.
At 17:11, while shorthanded, Matteo Mann sent Zach Morin on the attack with a breakout pass. Morin danced around an Eagles defender before sliding the puck past Milota, avoiding a poke check from the Eagles netminder and cutting the deficit to two.
Just 42 seconds into the third, a great passing play started with Nicolas Bilodeau and William Yared to set up Olivier Groulx for a redirect over Milota’s pad, making it 4-3. Litalien struck again with the man advantage, tipping in Schmitt’s point shot to restore the Eagles two-goal lead.
A neutral zone turnover proved costly for Saint John as Henneberry capitalized with speed, sniping the top corner on Young to finalize the game at 6-3.
STATISTICS
SOG: SNB – 41 | CAP – 46
PP: SNB – 0/3 | CAP – 1/3
Faceoffs: SNB – 33 | CAP – 35
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Saint John: Eric Young (40 saves on 46 shots)
Cape Breton: Jakub Milota (38 saves / 41 shots)
3 STARS
1st: CAP – Romain Litalien – 2G
2nd: CAP – Brayden Schmitt – 1G, 1A
3rd: CAP – Joseph Hennberry – 2G
UP NEXT
The Sea Dogs are right back in action Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm against the Eagles at Centre 200.
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