RECAP: Sea Dogs drop season finale to Eagles
SAINT JOHN – Olivier Groulx led the Saint John Sea Dogs with two goals Saturday afternoon in their final game of the year against the Cape Breton Eagles. Despite taking an early two-goal lead, the Sea Dogs allowed the Eagles to battle back to win 5-3. The Sea Dogs finished the season with a final record of 21-43-0-0.
Cam Squires recorded a hat trick for the Eagles, while Tomas Lavoie and Cole Burbridge each added a goal. William Yared scored the other goal for the Sea Dogs.
GAME SUMMARY
Olivier Groulx struck first for the Sea Dogs 6:36 into the game on a nice feed from John Lumsden. Just two minutes later, on the man advantage, Nate Tivey’s hard pass deflected off a skate to William Yared for an easy tap-in.
At 5:34 into the second period, Cam Squires feathered the twine on a pass from Jacob Newcombe to get Cape Breton on the board. Just 36 seconds later, Tomas Lavoie fired a point shot through traffic and between Eric Young’s pads to tie the game.
At 11:01, former Sea Dog Cole Burbidge won a footrace while shorthanded and scored on Young to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead. A backhand pass from Newcombe allowed Squires to pot his second of the night past Young’s outstretched glove, making it 4-2 with four minutes remaining in the second.
Midway through the third, Newcombe slid the puck to Squires, who lifted it top shelf from in close to complete his hat trick and put the Eagles up 5-2. With four minutes to play, Groulx snatched up Nicolas Bilodeau’s rebound and buried it past Milota. The Sea Dogs pulled Young at 17:42 for a final push and applied pressure but couldn’t close the gap.
STATISTICS
SOG: SNB – 37 | CAP – 46
PP: SNB – 1/4 | CAP – 0/2
Faceoffs: SNB – 29 | CAP – 36
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Saint John: Eric Young (41 saves on 46 shots)
Cape Breton: Jakub Milota (34 saves / 37 shots)
3 STARS
1st: SNB – Nate Tivey – 1A
2nd: SNB – Matteo Mann
3rd: SNB – Olivier Groulx – 2G
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