Recap: Sea Dogs win 7-3

FINAL: Saint John 7, Moncton 3

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs won their third straight road game on Saturday, defeating the Moncton Wildcats 7-3 in front of nearly 7,000 fans at Avenir Centre.

Cole Burbidge, Nico Laforge and Pavel Simek all scored two goals each while Brady Burns added an empty netter to secure the victory. A night after recording a hat trick, rookie defenseman Nicolas Bilodeau registered a pair of assists.

Rookie netminder Olivier Brideau made 32 stops to earn his first career QMJHL win.

It's the second straight 7-3 win for the Sea Dogs. The team defeated the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on the road on Friday.

The Sea Dogs are now right back in the playoff mix with 34 points. They are just two points back of the Charlottetown Islanders who currently hold the final spot.

Saint John took advantage of a Moncton team that is struggling right now. The Wildcats are just three games above .500, which is certainly not where they hoped to be at this point. They are 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games. 

Thomas Auger, Yoan Loshing and Miles Mueller scored for Moncton. Vincent Filion was pulled in the third period after allowing six goals on 29 shots. Jacob Steinman faced just one shot in relief.

LINEUP

Burns - Burbidge - Reinhart

Simek - Mateiko - Elie

Laforge - Cournoyer - Drover

Beaulieu - Benoit

Tivey - DesRoches

Akkouche - Cosman

Ianniello - Bilodeau

Richard

Brideau

Shingarov

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defenseman Vincent Despont (injury) and forwards Peter Reynolds (injury), Sam-Luca Thifault (injury), Nathan Casey (healthy) and Harrison Ballard (healthy).

STAYING HOT: Cole Burbidge has scored in three straight games. He's registered six goals during that stretch. Over his past four games, the rookie forward has six goals and four assists.

Straight down the middle and to the back of the net. Burbidge makes it 6-3 with his second of the night. 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/0ngzwr0pQt

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) January 29, 2023

FIRST WIN: Olivier Brideau seems to have found his footing in the QMJHL. The rookie netminder has had some strong starts in the second half and recorded his first victory in this game, making 32 stops.

RECORD TIED: Brady Burns' empty net goal was a big deal. The 20-year-old now has 108 career goals as a Sea Dog, tying Michael Kirkpatrick's franchise record.

The record tying empty netter! 🚨#CityofChampions https://t.co/3ph8tyCPiQ pic.twitter.com/IWiLpeNo9X

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) January 29, 2023

NOTES: With Peter Reynolds and Sam-Luca Thifault both out with injuries, the Sea Dogs went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen... Vince Elie returned to the Saint John lineup after being a healthy scratch on Friday... Pavel Simek, who returned from an injury Friday, scored his first goal since Dec. 11... Jared Cosman, wearing an 'A' on his jersey, was a +5... Saint John went 2/4 on the power play again... Simek had six shots... Connor Trenholm had one assist and three shots against his old club... this was Saint John's first win of the season against Moncton... attendance was 6,764.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs begin their final Quebec road trip of the season on Wednesday night in Val-d'Or.