SYDNEY, N.S. — Jérémie Poirier scored the shootout winner to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 4-3 victory over the Cape Breton Eagles in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Centre 200 on Wednesday.
Poirier was the lone goal scorer in the shootout, beating Eagles netminder Ewan MacDonald in the third round, which eventually gave the Sea Dogs the extra point.
Captain Nicolas Guay scored twice, while Brady Burns also found the back of the net for the Sea Dogs (11-15-1-0) in regulation time.
Egor Sokolov netted a pair of goals, while Ryan Francis added a single marker for the Eagles (15-9-1-1) in front of 2,257 at the Sydney venue.
Zachary Bouthillier made 48 saves for Saint John. MacDonald, who’s with the team due to an injury to Kevin Mandolese, turned aside 20 of 23 shots in his first career QMJHL game.
Cape Breton opened the scoring with Sokolov netting his team-leading 20th goal of the season at 7:58 of the first period, but Saint John would respond with a pair of goals by Guay and Burns to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.
The Eagles cut the Sea Dogs lead to one at the 14:17 mark of the second period with Sokolov notching his second goal of the game on the power play.
Francis tied the contest for the Eagles prior to the halfway mark of the third period, eventually sending the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, both Cape Breton and Saint John had chances to end the game but MacDonald and Bouthillier were up to the challenge.
In the shootout, after Burns and Maxim Cajkovic were stopped by MacDonald, and Francis and Sokolov were denied by Bouthillier, Poirier would score in the third round, forcing the Eagles’ Laferrière to score to keep the shootout going, but he was stopped by the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect.
Cape Breton outshot Saint John 51-23, while going 1-for-5 on the power play. The Sea Dogs went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.
The Eagles (15-9-1-1) will return to action on Thursday when they host Eskasoni’s Leon Denny and the Shawinigan Cataractes (13-12-0-0). Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200 in Sydney.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
SCORE: Saint John 4, Cape Breton 3 (SO)
CROWD/VENUE: 2,257, Centre 200, Sydney
GOAL SCORERS: Saint John: Nicolas Guay (2) and Brady Burns; Cape Breton: Egor Sokolov (2) and Ryan Francis
SAVES/SHOTS: Saint John: Zachary Bouthillier (48/51); Cape Breton: Ewan MacDonald (20/23)
THREE STARS: 1st: Egor Sokolov (CAP), 2nd: Nicolas Guay (SNB), and 3rd: Zachary Bouthillier (SNB)
TURNING POINT: Jérémie Poirier scored the lone goal in the shootout to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 4-3 victory over the Cape Breton Eagles
WHAT IT MEANS: Despite Saint John picking up the extra point, Cape Breton was able to earn a point and are now tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with the Charlottetown Islanders
UP NEXT: Shawinigan Cataractes, Thursday, 7 p.m., Centre 200, Sydney
LINES UPS:
Cape Breton:
Forward:
1 - Egor Sokolov - Ryan Francis - Shawn Boudrias
2 - Brooklyn Kalmikov - Mathias Laferriere - Felix Lafrance
3 - Liam Kidney - Ivan Ivan - Derek Gentile
4 - Connor Trenholm - David Doucet - Matthew Lint
Defence:
1 - Kyle Havlena - Nathan Larose
2 - Logan Kelly-Murphy - Jarrett Baker
3 - Jeremy Langlois - Alex Falardeau
Goaltenders:
1 - Ewan MacDonald
2 - William Grimard
Scratches: Cole Fraser (upper-body), Kevin Mandolese (lower-body), Adam McCormick (upper-body) and Shaun Miller (suspended)
Saint John:
Forwards:
1 - Maxim Cajkovic - Nicholas Deakin-Poot - Nicolas Guay
2 - Brady Burns - Josh Lawrence - Ben Badalamenti
3 - Dawson Stairs - Joshua Roy - Matt Gould
4 - James White - Alex Drover - Julian Vander-Voet
Defence:
1 - Jeremie Poirier - William Villeneuve
2 - Jordan Spadafore - Charlie DesRoches
3 - Kale McCallum - Joona Lehmus
Goaltenders:
1 - Zachary Bouthillier
2 - Noah Patenaude
Scratches: Olivier Desroches, Patrick Musico, Alexis Belisle and Aiden MacIntosh
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