RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 5-1

FINAL: Saint John 1, Halifax 5

HALIFAX – A night after being shutout 4-0 in their home opener, the Halifax Mooseheads rebounded in a big way on Saturday against the Saint John Sea Dogs.

A hat trick from Maxime Forter led the Mooseheads to a 5-1 victory over the Sea Dogs. It was Halifax’s first win of the season – and that includes pre-season.

Halifax got off to a strong start and never looked back, scoring two goals on their first four shots. They chased Alex Bishop from the game in the second period after allowing three goals on seven shots in just 21:02 minutes of action.

After struggling in the first 40 minutes of the game, the Sea Dogs had a decent third period and even got within two goals at one points. They had a few chances to score again but could not beat Eric Brassard for a second time.

The Mooseheads opened the scoring on just their second shot of the game as Fortier scored on a wraparound at 9:51. Then at 17:36, Arnaud Durandeau scored his first career QMJHL goal, firing a bouncing puck from the slot past Bishop.

Just 1:02 into the second period, Vincent Watt fired a shot from the circle that that beat Bishop far side and giving the Mooseheads a 3-0 lead. That would be the end of Bishop’s night with Marc-Antoine Turcotte taking over.

Despite having a few power plays in the second, Saint John was only able to record four shots on goal. Halifax had 15.

Saint John got within two at 2:44 of third when Ryan Chiasson put in a Cedric Pare rebound, giving the winger his first QMJHL goal. But that would be as close as the Dogs would get as Fortier completed his hat trick, making it a 5-2 final.

NOTES

• The Sea Dogs dressed seven defenseman and 11 forwards for this game.
• This was Alex Bishop’s first start and appearance of the season.
• Marc-Antoine Turcotte has appeared in every Sea Dogs game so far this year.
• Cedric Pare recorded his first QMJHL point on Ryan Chiasson’s third period goal.
• The line of Joe Veleno, Sam Povorozniouk and Daniel Del Paggio finished a -3 and recorded a combined five shots.
• Matthew Highmore continues to play well.
• Maxime Fortier’s third period power play was the first man advantage marker to be allowed by Saint John this season.
• Decent amount of hats on the ice for the hat trick.
• To the shock of nobody, former Sea Dog Kelly Bent was in the middle of some rough stuff in the third.
• Everyone seems to hate everything about the Scotiabank Centre renovations. At least the new seats are easier on the eyes.

STATS

TURNING POINT/BIG MOMENT

Vincent Watt’s early second period goal, which chased Alex Bishop from the game, set the tone for the period and created too much of a hole for the Sea Dogs to climb out of.

TWEET OF THE GAME

She's gettin rough. #Mooseheads #SeaDogs #SaturdayNightFights pic.twitter.com/1wx1j70J4j

— Matty M (@mattyfax) September 20, 2015

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs take on the Islanders in Charlottetown on Friday night.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation