A look at some regular season stats

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The post-season is set to begin for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Western Conference, crossing over from the Eastern side due to eight teams within their own conference qualifying for the playoffs.

Saint John finished the regular season with a 24-38-5-1 record for 54 points. They went 13-21-0-0 at home and 11-17-5-1 on the road. They ended the season going 4-2-4-0 in their final 10 games, a major reason why they qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.

Here's a look at some numbers from Saint John's season:

• Saint John scored 233 goals and allowed 318 for a -85 goal differential. They finished ninth in goals per game (3.40) and last in goals against per game (4.64).
• Saint John averaged the ninth most shots per game (30.68) and the third most shots against per game (36.06).
• The Sea Dogs averaged 9.50 penalty minutes per game, the fourth fewest in the league.
• 10 Sea Dogs games went into extra time. The team was 2-5 in overtimes and 2-1 in shootouts. Saint John scored just three shootout goals but only allowed two.
• The Dogs were 15-8-2-1 when scoring first.
• Saint John's record by division:
• vs Maritimes: 16-22-5-1
• vs East: 2-6-0-0
• vs Central: 2-6-0-0
• vs West: 4-4-0-0
• Teams the Sea Dogs went winless against: Chicoutimi (0-2-0-0), Halifax (0-8-0-0), Quebec (0-2-0-0), Rouyn-Noranda (0-2-0-0), Shawinigan (0-2-0-0), Sherbrooke (0-2-0-0) and Victoriaville (0-2-0-0).
• Saint John went 2-0-0-0 against Blainville-Boisbriand and Drummondville. 
• Saint John's special teams were near the middle of the pack. The team's penalty kill finished ninth (77.2%) and power play finished 11th (21.4%).
• Saint John allowed 16 shorthanded goals, the most in the league. That is tied for the second most in franchise history. The club record is 20 shorthanded goals allowed in 2006-07.
• Saint John's most offensive periods were second periods, where they scored 85 goals. The team allowed 116 goals against in second periods, though, and 118 in thirds.
• The Sea Dogs were 13-6-2-0 in games when leading after one and 18-0-1-1 when leading after two. They were 4-21-0-0 in games when trailing after one and 2-32-2-0 when trailing after two.
• Saint John outshot their opponent in just 15 games this season. 12 of those games were on home ice.
• Saint John took 16 minor penalties in a game on Jan. 14 (an 8-3 Sea Dogs win in Rimouski), the most by any team in a single game this season. The Oceanic went 3/8 on the power play in that game.
• The Sea Dogs recorded 24 shots in a first period on Jan. 4, the fourth highest first period total this season.
• According to HockeyFights.com, the Sea Dogs had just four fights all season, the third fewest in the league. Excluding the 2020-21 COVID season, that is a franchise low.

And here's a quick look at a few individual numbers:

• Eriks Mateiko was one of just three players to go a perfect 2/2 in shootout attempts.
• Ventsislav Shingarov and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada netminder Charles-Edward Gravel finished with a league high 24 losses.
• Shingaroav made the third most saves in the league (1,420). The netminder played every minute for Saint John down the stretch. Olivier Brideau's last appearance was Feb. 26.
• The 54 saves made by Shingarov on Dec. 17 (a 6-3 Sea Dogs win) was tied for the second most saves by a goaltender in the league this season. He made 26 stops in the first period of that game, the most by any goaltender in an opening frame.
• Six Sea Dogs finished in the top-19 of QMJHL rookie scoring: Cole Burbidge (4th - 50 points), Noah Reinhart (8th - 43 points), Nicolas Bilodeau (9th - 43 points), Eriks Mateiko (13th - 36 points), Pavel Simek (16th - 29 points) and Vince Elie (19th - 27 points).
• Bilodeau led all rookie defensemen in scoring (43 points) and finished third in overall rookie assists with 33. Burbidge was fourth with 31.
• Bilodeau finished fifth in rookie power play points with 16.
• Burbidge was the best rookie faceoff man with a rating of 42.9%.
• Burbidge was second in rookie shots on goal with 103.
• Joseph Ianniello, who joined the Sea Dogs mid-season as a free agent signing, finished with the best defenseman shooting percentage (five goals on 31 shots for a 16.1% rating).
• Jacob Beaulieu had two of Saint John's four fights while Sam-Luca Thifault and Vincent Despont each had one.