Game Day 37: vs Islanders

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to close out 2018 on a winning note this afternoon.

The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders in a 2 p.m. New Year's Eve tilt at Harbour Station. All 18 QMJHL teams are in action today.

Saint John is on a bit of a roll right now, winning back-to-back games and three of their past four.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/Sea Dogs Radio/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 7-26-2-1 for 17 points (fifth Maritimes, 17th QMJHL) while the Islanders are 22-10-2-1 for 47 points (third Maritimes, sixth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 1-0 home win over the Moncton Wildcats yesterday afternoon. Nicholas Deakin-Poot scored Saint John's lone goal while Mikhail Denisov made 34 saves in the shutout victory. The Islanders are coming off a 6-2 home win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday. Daniel Hardie had two goals while singles came from Jordan Maher, Nikita Alexandrov, Liam Peyton and Kevin Gursoy. Dakota Lund-Cornish made 22 saves in the win.

2018-19 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-3-0-1 against the Islanders this season while Charlottetown is 4-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 14 at Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs defeated the Islanders 6-4. Maxim Cajkovic and William Poirier each had two goals while singles came from Robbie Burt and Nicholas Deakin-Poot. Nikita Alexandrov, Derek Gentile, Danial Hardie and Kevin Gursoy all scored for Charlottetown. Alex D'Orio made 34 saves in the win. Dakota Lund-Cornish made 31 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Islanders: Forwards Kevin Gursoy and Daniel Hardie.

Gallant assigned to Valley Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs announced their latest roster move on Sunday night.

The team announced via Twitter that defenseman Carson Gallant has been assigned to the Maritime Hockey League's Valley Wildcats. Gallant will remain an affiliate player with the Sea Dogs, meaning we may see him again this season at some point.

Defenceman Carson Gallant will be joining the Valley Wildcats of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League for the remainder of the season. He will finish the season as an affiliate player for the Sea Dogs.

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) December 31, 2018

The move doesn't come as a surprise. Gallant hasn't played since Dec. 9 and a healthy Brendan Sibley and the welcoming of overager Benjamin Gagne move him further down the team's depth chart.

The 17-year-old appeared in 19 games with the Sea Dogs this year and did not register a point. He had one assist in 24 games with the Gatineau Olympiques last season.

Gallant, a Sackville, NS native, last played with the Wildcats in 2016-17 where he had seven goals and 12 assists in 38 games. Valley is having a rough year and sits in the basement of the MHL standings with a record of 5-20-3.

The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders on Monday at 2 p.m.

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 1-0

FINAL: Moncton 0, Saint John 1

SAINT JOHN - Mikhail Denisov led the Saint John Sea Dogs to an upset win over one of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's top teams on Sunday.

Denisov made 34 saves in a 1-0 shutout victory over the Moncton Wildcats at Harbour Station. Shots were significantly lopsided in favour of Moncton for the duration of the game. Shots were 34-11 overall - and 27-6 through the first 40 minutes.

The overage netminder made his first start since Dec. 12 and registered his second win as a Sea Dog. This was his seventh career shutout.

Nicholas Deakin-Poot scored Saint John's only game - which came in a first period that saw the Wildcats outshoot the Sea Dogs 17-2.

The Sea Dogs had a glorious opportunity to add on some insurance in the third period when Moncton's Tristan DeJong was given a five-minute major for tackling Robbie Burt. The Dogs couldn't tack on another goal though - but it ended up not mattering. Shots were 7-5 in favour of the Dogs in the final frame due to the man advantage time.

Moncton goaltender Francis Leclerc made 10 saves in the loss.

The Sea Dogs have now won back-to-back games and three of their past four.

Game Day 36: vs Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - The Moncton Wildcats make a visit to Harbour Station this afternoon.

This is the fifth meeting of the season between the Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs. The Wildcats have won three of the previous four meetings.

Game time this afternoon is 2 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/Sea Dogs Radio/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 6-26-2-1 for 15 points (fifth Maritimes, 17th overall) while the Wildcats are 23-10-2-2 for 50 points (second Maritimes, fifth overall).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-1 win in Bathurst on Friday night. James White had a hat trick while singles came from William Poirier, Alex Drover and Nicholas Deakin-Poot. Alex D'Orio made 18 saves in the win. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss in Cape Breton on Friday. Kyle Foreman, Charles-Antoine Giguere and Elliot Desnoyers scored for Moncton. Francis Leclerc made 27 stops in the loss.

2018-19 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-3-0-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 3-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 9 at the Avenir Centre where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 6-2. Mika Cyr and Jeremy McKenna each had two goals for the Wildcats while Kyle Foreman and Jakob Pelletier added solo markers. Michael Campoli and Anthony Boucher scored for Saint John. Francis Leclerc made 27 saves in the win. Mikhail Denisov made 29 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: Radio broadcaster Tim Roszell.

Sea Dogs acquire another overager

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SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs have acquired another overager.

In a trade that was reported yesterday and made official today, the Sea Dogs have picked up 20-year-old defenseman Benjamin Gagne from the Quebec Remparts in exchange for an eighth-round pick in the 2021 QMJHL Entry Draft.

This is the third overager the Sea Dogs have acquired since late November. The team has added goaltender Mikhail Denisov, forward Casey Carreau and now Gagne.

The odd man out appears to be current Sea Dogs captain Anthony Boucher who, according to TVA Sports' Mikael Lalancette, has returned home and is awaiting a trade.

Le marché des transactions recommence à s’activer #LHJMQ.

Parmi les joueurs qui vont changer d’adresse dans les prochaines heures, Anthony Boucher des Sea Dogs. Il est retourné à la maison dans l’attente d’une transaction. #tvasports

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MLalancetteTVA) December 29, 2018

Boucher played in Saint John's 6-1 win in Bathurst last night. In his second season with Saint John, the centre has six goals and five assists in 33 games.

Gagne has served as the Remparts' captain this season. In 35 games the Quebec City native has six goals and 13 assists.

Carreau's status withe the Dogs remains questionable it would seem. He is currently with the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers and has been in the team's lineup since the trade was announced. Carreau may have simply been a piece the Drummondville Voltigeurs opted to give the Dogs to complete the deal rather than a late round draft pick - which is usually the case. That trade is expected to have more conditional things attached to it.

Assuming Carreau doesn't report and Boucher is in fact the odd man out, that leaves Saint John with Gagne, Denisov and Michael Campoli has overage players.

The QMJHL's trading period comes to a close on Jan. 6.

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 6-1

FINAL: Saint John 6, Bathurst 1

BATHURST - The streak is over.

The Saint John Sea Dogs' year-long stretch of going winless on the road came to an end on Friday night at the KC Irving Regional Centre thanks to a 6-1 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The Sea Dogs had not won a road game since Dec. 15, 2017 and had not won an away match in regulation time since Nov. 22, 2017. A loss on Friday would have meant a winless 2018 for the Sea Dogs - but the team was able to put an end to that in the last away contest of the calendar year.

This was, obviously, Saint John's first road win of the 2018-19 season. They entered the contest 0-14-0-1 away from Harbour Station.

Saint John chased Titan goaltender Mark Grametbauer - who, up until this game, had been lights out against the Dogs this season - in the first period, scoring four times on 12 shots. Tyriq Outen was peppered with 29 shots the rest of the way.

James White scored a hat trick for Saint John while singles came from William Poirier, Alex Drover and Nicholas Deakin-Poot. Alex D'Orio made 18 saves in the win.

Mathieu Desgagnes scored the Titan's lone goal. The loss was Bathurst's 15th straight defeat on home ice. They are a woeful 1-17-0-1 at the KCI this season.