Friday, December 18, 2015

RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 3-1

FINAL: Halifax 1, Saint John 3

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs closed out the first half with a 3-1 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads got off to a bit of a slow start with a lot of neutral zone play. The Sea Dogs would eventually get on the board first at the 17:24 mark when Luke Green rushed in and buried his own rebound past Eric Brassard. That’s all the damage that would be done in the opening period despite an 11-5 shot advantage for Saint John.

The Sea Dogs had a great start to the middle stanza as call up Ryan Chiasson scored the second goal of his QMJHL career, putting a shot past Brassard and giving the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead at the 4:19 mark. The Mooseheads would cut the lead in half when Maxime Fortier buried a second chance on his wraparound attempt, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Saint John peppered Brassard with 23 shots in the second period but the netminder managed to keep the Mooseheads within a single goal heading to the third period.

After Matthew Highmore was called for a slashing penalty just 1:20 into the third period, it was Nathan Noel finishing off a nice two-on-one with Mathieu Joseph, giving the Sea Dogs a shorthanded marker and extending their lead to 3-1. Halifax would pull Brassard late in the final frame but could not beat Marc-Antoine Turcotte, giving the Sea Dogs a 3-1 victory.

NOTES
  • Long list of scratches for Saint John in this game: Samuel Dove-McFalls (injured), Spencer Smallman (injured), Julien Tessier (injured), Matt Green (injured), Bailey Webster (injured), Thomas Chabot (WJC), Jakub Zboril (WJC), and Bokondji Imama (suspension).
  • The Sea Dogs were forced to play with just five defensemen in this game due to injuries.
  • Spencer Smallman and Bailey Webster were both injured in last night’s game against Cape Breton. Matthew Highmore wore the captain’s ‘C’ in Smallman’s absence.
  • Halifax’s Cavan Fitzgerald sat this game out as a healthy scratch - expect him to be traded.
  • Nathan Noel stayed on the bench for the first period but started the second period.
  • Noel’s goal gives him 120 points in his QMJHL career, which is the most points for an active player on the Sea Dogs roster.
  • For some reason, the Sea Dogs were several minutes late for warm up.
  • Attendance for this game was 3,22.

TURNING POINT
In a game that was largely one sided for the most part, it was the goal by Sea Dogs affiliate player Ryan Chiasson that put the Sea Dogs in front 2-1 and would stand as the game winner.

SN THREE STARS
Luke Green
Matt Murphy
Eric Brassard

TWEET OF THE GAME
NEXT GAME  
The Sea Dogs now head into the Christmas break and will enjoy some time off before returning to Harbour Station to welcome the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Dec. 28.

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