RECAP: Sea Dogs win 4-3

FINAL: Halifax 3, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs are off to a winning start.

Dawson Stairs' first career Quebec Major Junior Hockey League goal proved to be the game-winner as the Sea Dogs defeated the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 at TD Station. This was the first game of the 2019-20 regular season for both clubs.

Nicholas Deakin-Poot, Ben Badalamenti and William Villeneuve also scored for Saint John in a game that was far from beautifully played - but a win is a win. Zachary Bouthillier made 40 saves in the victory.

Marcel Barinka, Raphael Lavoie and Senna Peeters scored for Halifax. Alexis Gravel made 21 stops in the loss.

This was the first time since the 2015-16 season that the Sea Dogs opened a regular season with a victory.

Saint John delivered a bad five-on-three power play in the first half of the opening period - but Deakin-Poot made up for it. At 6:50, the veteran forward banged a puck past Gravel to open the scoring. The Mooseheads tied the game at 9:35 when Barinka beat Bouthillier. That made it 1-1 after 20 minutes.

Badalamenti's first QMJHL goal at 9:13 of the second period put Saint John back in front. That ended some Mooseheads momentum and gave a sluggish looking Dogs team a lift. Then at 10:34, a Villeneuve point shot went through some traffic and over the shoulder of Gravel, giving Saint John a two-goal lead.

Maxim Trempanier had a breakaway with five-minutes left in the second period but was denied by Bouthillier. Play came back the other way where Deakin-Poot had a break only to be stopped by Gravel.

Lavoie got the Mooseheads back within one at 4:15 of the third. Saint John regained their two-goal advantage at 7:09 when a slick feed from Josh Lawrence set up Stairs' first QMJHL goal.

At 7:46, Peeters got Halifax back within one. The Mooseheads had a few chances to net an equalizer but were never able to apply a ton of sustained pressure in the offensive zone.

LINEUP

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Matt Gould (healthy), Julian Vander Voet (healthy) and Alexis Belisle (injured) along with defensemen Patrick Musico (healthy) and Jordan Spadafore (suspended).

NEW THINGS: There was some new signage in and on the building thanks to the TD Station rebrand. That included new outdoor signs over the main entrance and on the Station St. sign. The end zone above the Moose Light Ice Bar has been rebranded the TD Zone. On top of that, most Saint John Riptide (RIP for now, anyways) signage has been removed.

FIRST GOAL: Ben Badalamenti recorded his first QMJHL point - an assist - on Saint John's first goal and then netted his first career marker in the second period. Badalamenti played in the CCHL and USHL last season.

PEETERS: Halifax import Senna Peeters scored his first QMJHL goal in the third period. While this was his first regular season game, he's no stranger to scoring against Saint John, netting three against the Dogs in a pair of pre-season tilts.

GOOD CROWD: The home opening crowd of 4,067 was slightly better than last year's mark of 4,002 - also against the Mooseheads.

OPENING GAME: The Sea Dogs are now 7-6-2 all-time in season openers.

LONG TIME COMING: After dropping all eight games against the Mooseheads last season, Friday's win ended a long drought for the Sea Dogs. This was team's first victory over Halifax since Feb. 9, 2018, ending a nine-game losing skid.

NOTES: Nicolas Guay was named Sea Dogs captain earlier this week. Nicholas Deakin-Poot and William Villeneuve each wore an 'A' on Friday... Jean-Jacques Daigneault made his debut behind the Mooseheads bench... there were some webcast issues for this game according to the Mooseheads Twitter... Deakin-Poot had an impressive game, ending with five shots... Kale McCallum had two assists.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.