Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-1

FINAL: Saint John 5, Val-d'Or 1

VAL-D'OR, Que. - Brady Burns scored a hat trick to lead the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-1 win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Friday.

Playing their second game of a three game Quebec road trip, the Sea Dogs played a fairly solid contest. Saint John, once again, had a bit of a rough start but rebounded from it. After Burns' second period goal gave the Sea Dogs a 2-1 advantage, the game never really felt in doubt from there.

Carter McCluskey and Jacob Chantler also scored for the Sea Dogs. Jonathan Lemieux, making his return to Val-d'Or, made 24 stops in the win.

Alexandre Doucet scored the Foreurs' lone goal. Philippe Cloutier made 32 stops in the loss.

The Sea Dogs' road trip concludes on Saturday in Rouyn-Noranda.

LINEUP

MacDonald - Lawrence - Dufour

Burns - Francis - Chantler

Picard - Reynolds - Sapelnikov

Crete - Laforge - McCluskey

DesRoches - Villeneuve

Poirier - Inniss

Drapeau - Despont

Lemieux

Patenaude

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defenseman Hunter Gartley along with forwards Cole Foston, Adam Bowness, Charles Savoie and Riley Bezeau. Savoie and Bezeau, who played in Wednesday's game in Gatineau, were both out with injuries.

SHAKEUP: Saint John shook up their lines following Wednesday's loss. Cam MacDonald moved up to the top line while Brady Burns dropped down to join Ryan Francis and Jacob Chantler - who played sparingly on Wednesday. Peter Reynolds and Evgeny Sapelnikov joined Olivier Picard on the third line.

INSERTED: With Charles Savoie and Riley Bezeau out, Carter McCluskey (last played Oct. 23) and Nico Laforge (last played Oct. 29) drew in. McCluskey always seems to make the most of his playing opportunities and scored on a bank shot in the first period. Laforge got to play in front of some family and friends and was given a solo lap at the start of warmup. 

WELCOME BACK: Former Foreurs Jonathan Lemieux and Olivier Picard returned to their old home for the first time. There was a video tribute played for the two during the first media stoppage. Both players saluted the crowd after the game.

Merci pour tout les boys! Le meilleur pour la suite avec les @SJSeaDogs ! ⛏🌲 pic.twitter.com/5FhXqZveCG

— Foreurs VD officiel (@ForeursVD) November 20, 2021

FAMILIAR FACE: The Sea Dogs faced an old teammate in defenseman Kale McCallum for the first time. The 19-year-old Quispamsis native spent the past two seasons with Saint John. McCallum had two shots and was a -2 in this game.

BURNS: Brady Burns recorded the third hat trick of his career on Friday. He also had a game high seven shots. 

🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/bsbgRFLohs

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) November 20, 2021

NOTES: Jacob Chantler scored his first QMJHL goal - and it came on a shorthanded breakaway... Saint John's power play was buzzing again but only scored once on five chances... Olivier Picard had four hits... Josh Lawrence's assists streak came to an end at six games and his road points streak ended at eight games... William Dufour extended his road points streak to eight games... attendance was 1,261.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Rouyn-Noranda to face the Huskies on Saturday at 8 p.m.