RECAP: Sea Dogs win 6-5

FINAL: Saint John 6, Moncton 5

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs continue to play like a different team of late.

After a dreadful first half, the Sea Dogs have found some jump over the past few weeks. They continued to roll on Thursday night, winning an offensive duel over the Moncton Wildcats by a final score of 6-5 at the Avenir Centre.

The Sea Dogs had a strong first period again - something they struggled with throughout the first half - taking a 4-2 lead to the dressing room. Moncton stormed back in the second, scoring three times and outshooting Saint John 16-6. The Dogs wouldn't go away though. Robbie Burt tied the game at 5-5 early in the third and then, exactly one-minute later, Benjamin Gagne recorded his first goal as a Sea Dog to make it 6-5 - a goal that proved to be the game-winner.

Burt had two goals in the game while singles came from Gagne, Josh Lawrence, James White and Brady Burns. Mikhail Denisov, who was in net for Saint John's 1-0 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday, made 38 stops in the win.

Charles-Antoine Giguere, Jordan Spence, Jeremy McKenna, Brady Pataki and Dylan Seitz scored for Moncton. Charles-Antoine Lavallee allowed four goals on 13 shots. Francis Leclerc allowed two goals on 17 shots.

Saint John has now won three of the six head-to-head meetings between the two clubs this season. The Sea Dogs are the only team to have beaten the Wildcats three times in regulation this year.

The Sea Dogs, who have just eight wins all season, are now 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Wildcats, meanwhile, continue to slid, now falling to 3-5-0-2 in their last 10.

LINEUP

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Alex D'Orio (healthy); and forwards Anthony Boucher (awaiting trade), Yohan Plamondon (injured), Christian Clark (sick) and Maxim Cajkovic (injured).

NOTES: Josh Lawrence returned from illness, playing in his first game since Dec. 9... underage affiliate Dawson Stairs did not dress for the first time in a while... this was Saint John's first ever win at the Avenir Centre... this was Saint John's second road win of the season... after going a year without a road win, Saint John has won back-to-back games away from Harbour Station... Robbie Burt seems to like having big games in Moncton. He recorded two goals and an assist in this game... the Sea Dogs matched a season high for goals in a game... Mikhail Denisov recorded an assist on Josh Lawrence's first period goal... the excellent Jordan Spence was a -3 for Moncton.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow night at 7 p.m.