The Saint John Sea Dogs put up a solid fight in their second game of the Memorial Cup, but it was not quite enough.
The host team fell to the Western Hockey League champion Edmonton Oil Kings 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday.
Gardiner MacDougall, interim head coach of the Sea Dogs, said there were many positives despite the “gut-wrenching” loss.
“We knew that our opponent was going to come early and we go down 2-0. Maybe before we wouldn’t have the grit to come back, so I thought it was an outstanding response,” MacDougall told reporters after the game.
The Oil Kings opened the scoring early with two back-to-back goals from Jaxsen Wiebe and Carter Souch in the first five minutes of play.
Raivis Kristians Ansons and Josh Lawrence scored within 25 seconds of one another to tie the game at 2-2, and a goal by William Dufour at the 10-minute mark gave the Sea Dogs a 3-2 lead.
Wiebe scored on the power play early in the second to tie up the game at 3-3 and went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime.
Nikolas Hurtubise got the start in net for Saint John, making 27 saves on 31 shots,
Sea Dogs forward Philippe Daoust, who had an assist on Wednesday night, said it was an exciting game for players and fans.
“Overtimes are always a lot of fun, especially three-on-threes. Lots of ups and downs, lots of chances,” said Daoust.
“We had a lot of opportunities to win the game. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve got to look at the positives and think to the next game.”
The Sea Dogs picked up one point in their overtime loss and currently lead the Memorial Cup standings with four points.
They will play their final round-robin game at 5 p.m. Saturday against their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League rivals, the champion Shawinigan Cataractes.
Before that, Shawinigan takes on the Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Thursday. Friday night action will see the Oil Kings face the Bulldogs.
After they collected a point in overtime, hear from Riley Bezeau, Philippe Daoust and William Dufour.#MemorialCup | @SJSeaDogs pic.twitter.com/cjB9a2JZMo
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 23, 2022
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