Recap: Sea Dogs lose 8-5

FINAL: Saint John 5, Moncton 8

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Moncton Wildcats' power play proved to be the difference in a wild game at Avenir Centre on Thursday night.

The Wildcats went 4/5 on the man advantage in an 8-5 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs, extending their winning streak to five games.

It was a game of momentum shifts. The Wildcats led 6-1 at one point in the second period and looked to be in complete control heading into the third up 6-2. But Saint John rattled off three quick goals in the third to get within one – but that would be as close as they would get. Moncton added two more in the final frame to secure the win.

Yoan Loshing had a hat trick for Moncton; Caleb Desnoyers scored twice and singles came from Vincent Collard, Preston Lounsbury and Julius Sumpf. Keegan Warren allowed five goals on 25 shots while Jacob Steinman stopped all six shots he faced in the third.

Egan Beveridge, William Yared, Eriks Mateiko and Elliot Dubé all scored for Saint John. Zachary Morin had three assists. Justin Robinson made 41 stops in the loss.

The Sea Dogs opened the scoring with a power play goal at 11:29 of the first. The Sea Dogs were cycling the puck around well before a Morin shot was stopped by Warren but Groulx was in front to put in the rebound.

Moncton quickly responded with two goals. Loshing scored just eight seconds after Groulx and then, on a power play at 12:32, Desnoyers cut through nearly every Sea Dog on the ice to put the Wildcats in front 2-1 after one.

The Wildcats blew it open in the second period. Just 1:17 in, Loshing scored his second of the game on a power play to make it 3-1. Giuliano Caputo was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for a check from behind at 9:05, sending Moncton to another man advantage that would see Collard score to make it 4-1.

Lounsbury and Desnoyers also scored in the second while Beveridge netted a late marker for Saint John.

Saint John came out firing in the third. Yared, Mateiko and Dubé all scored within the first 4:18 to get within one. But all that momentum seemed to deflate when Matteo Mann took an interference penalty at 11:56, allowing Sumpf to score on the man advantage to make it 7-5. Loshing completed his hat trick at 13:59, making it an 8-5 final.

Game Day 10: at Moncton

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to end the Moncton Wildcats' winning streak tonight at Avenir Centre.

The Wildcats carry a four-game winning streak into tonight's contest and were placed No. 1 in this week's CHL Top 10 rankings. Gardiner MacDougall's squad seems to be hitting the stride most expected of them.

The Sea Dogs, meanwhile, are a perfect 3-0 on the road this young season. This will be their first trip of the year to Moncton.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/None/CHL TV

2024-25 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 6-3-0-0 for 12 points (fourth Maritimes/fifth Eastern/sixth QMJHL) while the Wildcats are 6-1-1-0 for 13 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-5 shootout win over the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday. Eriks Mateiko, Tyler Peddle, Ben Cross, Matthew MacLean and Elliot Dubé all scored for Saint John. Charles-Edward Gravel made 30 stops in the win. The Wildcats are coming off a 5-1 home win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Monday. Julius Sumpf scored a pair of goals while singles came from Gabe Smith, Markus Vidicek and Preston Lounsbury. Keegan Warren made 29 saves in the win.

Sea Dogs surprising early

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs recorded their sixth win of the season on Sunday, improving their record to 6-3-0-0.

The team didn't win their sixth game of the season until Nov. 12 last year. It took them until Nov. 24 the season before that.

It's safe to say the Sea Dogs have been a pleasant surprise early this season. It's too early to declare the worst parts of the rebuild over, but this is a positive start that, if it keeps up, could make for some interesting decisions come trade deadline time.

While Saint John sitting sixth overall in the QMJHL standings is a surprise to most, there have been a few notable individual surprises as well.

• Nate Tivey, who's career high for points in a season is 27, leads the team and all QMJHL defensemen in scoring with 15 points (three goals and 12 assists) in eight games. He's recorded a point in six of the eight games he's appeared in and has had two four-point games already.
• Tivey is currently on pace for 126 points this season. I'll make a bold prediction and say he won't reach that number. But the club record for points by a defenseman in a single season is 58, which was set by William Villeneuve in 2019-20. That record is certainly within reach.
• Saint John has a history of players unexpectedly exploding offensively in their overage season. Danick Gauthier posted 47 goals and 86 points in 2011-12 (his previous career highs were 13 goals and 30 points) while Boko Imama registered 41 goals and 55 points in 2016-17 (his previous career highs were 13 goals and 28 points).
• How about Ben Cross? The 19-year-old forward was claimed off waivers by the Sea Dogs and now finds himself on Saint John's top line with Tyler Peddle and Eriks Mateiko. Cross has two goals and five assists in nine games.
• Elliot Dubé sits fourth in QMJHL rookie scoring with eight points in nine games. Dubé's four goals is the third most amongst rookies.
• Dylan Rozzi sits ninth in rookie scoring (five points in nine games) while William Yared is 12th (four points in nine games).
• Charles-Edward Gravel is less of a surprise – but he's certainly meeting high expectations. The overage netminder has the league's third best goals against average of 2.27 and the third best save percentage of .930.
• Random: Travis Crickard is one win away from tying Ross Yates for the fourth most wins by a head coach in team history with 49.

Saint John will be put to the test this week, visiting the CHL top-ranked Moncton Wildcats on Thursday before facing the Eastern Conference leading Acadie-Bathurst Titan in a home-and-home on the weekend.

Notebook: Sea Dogs attracting small crowds early this season

The Saint John Sea Dogs have been a pleasant surprise on the ice. Off the ice, attendance for games at TD Station has not been too pleasant.

Through six home games, the Sea Dogs are averaging 2,550 fans per game, placing them 10th in the 18-team QMJHL. They're slightly behind small markets Shawinigan and Victoriaville.

Crowds are typically lower this time of year compared to the winter months – but Saint John's average attendance is down nearly 500 fans per game from where it was at this point a year ago. The Sea Dogs averaged 3,011 fans per game after six home games last season.

Saint John's last three home games have seen particularly small crowds.

Sunday, Oct. 6 - 1,859

Friday, Oct. 11 - 2,006

Saturday, Oct. 12 - 2,150

The Oct. 6 attendance of 1,859 was Saint John's smallest regular season crowd since Dec. 17, 2022 when 1,813 watched the Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton Eagles.

COMING UP

Just how "for real" is this Sea Dogs team? We could get a good indication this week.

The Sea Dogs will play three games in four nights this week, beginning with a Thursday night contest in Moncton. The Wildcats enter play on Monday with a 5-1-1-0 record and have already defeated the Sea Dogs once this season.

The Sea Dogs will then play a Friday-Sunday home-and-home against the Maritimes Division leading Acadie-Bathurst Titan, with the first game taking place at the KC Irving Regional Centre. The Titan are a surprising 7-3-0-0 this season and have won four straight games.

Sunday's game at TD Station will be Saint John's final game until Halloween night.

Gravel, Sea Dogs make more shootout history

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - This year's Saint John Sea Dogs team seems to love marathon shootouts.

For the second time in this young season, the Sea Dogs needed a lengthy shootout to decide a game, going 11 rounds in a 6-5 victory over the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday. Just a couple weeks ago in Sydney, the Sea Dogs and Eagles went nine rounds in a 2-1 Saint John win.

On Saturday, Eriks Mateiko scored in the second round but Justin Gendron quickly tied things up. There wouldn't be another goal scored until William Yared connected in the 11th round.

Following that Sept. 29 game, I wrote about how rare long Sea Dogs shootouts are. Now, let's update some of those notes.

A few fun facts from Saturday's game:

• This was the second longest shootout in Sea Dogs history. The longest was 12 rounds, which took place on Oct. 30, 2007 when Saint John fell 2-1 to the Lewiston Maineiacs at Harbour Station. Saint John has had two nine round shootouts, the latest being on Sept. 29 against Cape Breton.
• Charles-Edward Gravel stopped 10 of 11 shots he faced on Saturday, setting a new franchise record for saves in a shootout. Gravel and Travis Fullerton previously held the team record with nine saves each.
• Gravel and Tigres goaltender Jakob Hanlan combined for 19 saves, tying the Sea Dogs record for most combined saves in a shootout. There were also 19 combined stops made in that 2007 game between Fullerton and Maineiacs netminder Jonathan Bernier.
• Just nine games into the 2024-25 season, Gravel has made 19 saves in shootouts, which is the second most in a single season in team history. Fullerton owns the record, making 22 saves during the 2007-08 season.
• Sebastien Auger owns the record for most career shootout saves as a Sea Dog, making 39 during his four-year stint with the club.
• William Yared's shootout winner was his first career QMJHL shootout goal. He also had an attempt in that Sept. 29 game.

The longest shootout in league history was 19 rounds, which took place on April 29, 2022 between the Charlottetown Islanders and Moncton Wildcats.

Saint John is the first team to record two shootout wins this season. They are now 6-3-0-0 on the year.

Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-5 (SO)

FINAL: Victoriaville 5, Saint John 6 (SO)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - It turned into an adventure, but the Saint John Sea Dogs skated away with a 6-5 shootout win over the Victoriaville Tigres on Saturday at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs were up 5-2 in the third period only to have the Tigres storm back in the final six minutes and force extra time. The two teams then needed an 11-round shootout to decide a winner.

Saint John had a bit of a slow start, struggling to get going in the first period. But the team turned it on in the final two periods – but some late game lapses nearly cost them a win. There will be some lessons learned from this game.

Eriks Mateiko, Tyler Peddle, Ben Cross, Matthew MacLean and Elliot Dubé all scored for Saint John. Charles-Edward Gravel made 30 saves in the win – and also stopped 10 of 11 shootout attempts.

Mael Lavigne scored a pair of Victoriaville goals while Justin Gendron, Justin Larose and Olivier Houde added singles. Jakub Hanlan made 17 stops in the loss. The Tigres have now lost five straight games.

The Tigres opened the scoring just 1:06 in when Lavigne scored. Saint John struggled to get a lot going offensively in the period but the team would still come away with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Mateiko got Saint John on the board at 4:40 when his shot seemed to fool Hanlan in the Tigres net. Then, with 29 seconds remaining in the frame and Saint John on a power play, Peddle ripped a perfectly placed wrist shot top corner to put Saint John ahead.

The Sea Dogs had more jump in the second period, outshooting the Tigres 15-9. It looked like Olivier Groulx had scored to give Saint John a 3-1 lead with 5:44 remaining in the period but the power play goal was called back due to an offiside. Shortly after play resumed on the same man advantage, Cross beat Hanlan top corner to give the Dogs a legit two-goal advantage.

Victoriaville got back within one at 16:51 of the second when Lavigne netted his second of the game.

MacLean's first QMJHL goal 2:34 into the third made it a 4-2 game and then, at 10:28, Dubé scored from the high slot to give Saint John a commanding 5-2 advantage.

The Tigres went to a power play at 11:12 and they pulled Hanlan to give them a six-on-four advantage. Dubé would score into the empty net – but the goal was called back due to an offside. The disallowed goal proved to be critical. 

Victoriaville got back within two when Gendron finished off a nice passing play at 14:13. The Tigres then got within one at 18:29 when Larose slid the puck under Gravel who was caught going the other way. Then, with 26 seconds remaining, Houde netted the equalizer to send the match into overtime.

Shots were 16-3 in favour of the Tigres in the third period.

After a dull overtime period, an 11-round shootout was required. In the 11th round, William Yared netted the winner to give Saint John the extra point.