Radkov, Bresson suspended; MacPherson recalled

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - Goaltenders Arseni Radkov and Owen Bresson have both been suspended following their Friday night fight.

The roster sheet for Saturday's rematch between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads lists both goaltenders out of the lineup with suspensions – but no lengths were included. We'll have to wait for confirmation by the league on if the suspensions are more than a game.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet at 4 p.m. at TD Station.

The fight took place during the second period of Friday's 5-4 Mooseheads win over the Sea Dogs at TD Station. The altercation began when Alexis Gauthier went hard to the net, which led to Bresson giving the Sea Dogs forward a few shots with his blocker. Radkov then made his way to his own blue line and was soon met in the neutral zone by Bresson.

Both were given two game misconducts: one for fighting and another for removing their own helmets/masks.

This was the first goalie fight in Sea Dogs franchise history.

With Radkov out, the Sea Dogs have recalled Jase MacPherson from the under-18 Kensington Wild. The Sea Dogs are lucky with the timing. The Wild are playing in the provincial final but have no games scheduled for Saturday or Sunday.

MacPherson, who turned 17 on Thursday, made 38 saves in Kensington's 3-2 win over the Charlottetown Knights in Game 1 of the provincial final on Friday.

MacPherson, a second-round pick of Saint John in last year's QMJHL Entry Draft, has been recalled previously to be a backup but has not seen any game action with the Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs are also in action on Sunday when they visit the Charlottetown Islanders.

MHL playoffs underway for ex-Dogs

Summerside Western Capitals

The Maritime Junior Hockey League playoffs are underway.

On Friday, the Truro Bearcats defeated the Pictou County Weeks Crushers 6-0 while the Chaleur Lightning edged the Grand Falls Rapids 4-3. Former Saint John Sea Dogs forwards Jonah Leard and Coen Miller scored for the Rapids in the loss.

On Saturday, the other two series begin. The Amherst Ramblers will take on the Summerside Western Capitals while the Edmundston Blizzard will face the West Kent Steamers.

There are a number of former Sea Dogs on MHL playoff rosters.

Amherst Ramblers: Darien Reynolds and Jeremie Richard

Chaleur Lightning: Ben Cross and Jesse Dunlap (affiliate)

Edmundston Blizzard: None

Grand Falls Rapids: Coen Miller, Jonah Leard and Reid Calder

Pictou County Weeks Crushers: Mitchell Wagner

Summerside Western Capitals: Matthew MacLean and Justin Robinson

Truro Bearcats: None

West Kent Steamers: None

The Rapids are coached by former Sea Dogs coaches Greg Leland and Jeff Cowan. The Rapids finished first in the North Division and are making their first playoff appearance.

The Western Capitals, who are hosting the Centennial Cup national championship in May, finished first overall in the league standings.

Ben Cross, who played 60 games with the Sea Dogs last season, finished second in MHL scoring with 78 points in 51 games. He led the league in goals with 42.

Coen Miller, who appeared in 23 games with Saint John last season, finished 10th in league scoring with 67 points (28 goals and 39 assists) in 42 games.

Teams not making the playoffs include the Yarmouth Mariners, Campbellton Tigers, Miramichi Timberwolves and Valley Wildcats.

The MHL playoffs can be watched on FloHockey.

Recap: Sea Dogs lose 5-4

FINAL: Halifax 5, Saint John 4

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs came up just short against the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday.

The Sea Dogs trailed 3-0 in the first period but made a game of it, ultimately falling 5-4 in an entertaining contest at TD Station.

Saint John trailed 3-0 and 4-1 but managed to pull within a goal in the second period. Saint John had a great chance to tie things up late in the third, going to a five-on-three power play with 1:25 remaining. The Sea Dogs were able to generate some strong pressure in the offensive zone but could not net an equalizer.

The Mooseheads dominated most of the first period but the rest of the game was fairly even. Halifax has now won four of the seven games between the two this season with one more meeting to come – which will happen Saturday at TD Station.

This game will be remembered for some time because of the second period goalie period fight between Arseni Radkov and Owen Bresson. It wasn't an overly nasty game before or even after the fight, but it was a spirited tilt between the two netminders in the neutral zone.

Caylen Blake, Samuel Rousseau, Oleg Kulebiakin, Liam Kilfoil and Owen Phillips all scored for Halifax. Bresson allowed three goals on 15 shots before being tossed from the game. Nicolas Gillham-Cirka allowed a goal on 11 shots in relief.

Angelo Fullerton netted a pair of goals for Saint John while singles came from Everett Baldwin and Dylan Rozzi. Radkov allowed four goals on 23 shots while Rafaël Courchesne allowed a goal on 16 shots.

Video: Goalie fight in Saint John

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - What just happened?

Goaltenders Arseni Radkov and Owen Bresson dropped the gloves during the second period of Friday's Saint John Sea Dogs home game against the Halifax Mooseheads.

Things truly escalated quickly. After what had been a mild game in terms of rough stuff, Bresson gave Sea Dogs forward Alexis Gauthier a punch with his blocker. Soon after, Radkov skated to his own blue line and, soon enough, the two netminders started throwing punches in the neutral zone.

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Game Day 60 & 61: vs Mooseheads

Trevor MacMillan/Halifax Mooseheads

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will play their final home games of the regular season this weekend.

The Sea Dogs will host the Halifax Mooseheads tonight at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. The team will play three games on the road to finish the regular season, but this weekend's contests will be the team's final matches at TD Station until the playoffs.

Halifax sits one spot ahead of Saint John in the standings. But the Moose have an 11-point lead with five games to play, so the Sea Dogs won't be able to catch them. Saint John is locked into the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Sea Dogs will look to try and improve their home record in these final games. The team is 11-17-2-0 at TD Station this season.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Audio Network

Records: The Sea Dogs are 22-32-5-0 for 49 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads are 27-27-3-3 for 60 points (seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 loss in Moncton on Sunday. Zachary Morin, Alexis Joseph and Nolann Héroux scored for Saint John. Arseni Radkov made 42 saves in the loss. The Mooseheads are coming off a 3-2 overtime in win Cape Breton on Sunday. Quinn Kennedy, Connor MacPherson and Oleg Kulebiakin scored for Halifax. Owen Bresson made 19 saves in the win.

Reds win AUS title again; standings update

Atlantic University Sport Facebook

They've done it again.

For an eighth straight season, the UNB Reds are Atlantic University Sport men's hockey champions.

The Reds clinched the best-of-three final with a 4-1 victory over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus on Thursday night at the Aitken Centre. Moncton won the Game 1, 4-3, in Fredericton on Sunday but UNB took Game 2, scoring in the final second of overtime to earn a 4-3 win.

Moncton scored first in Thursday's deciding game only for UNB to net four unanswered goals.

Former Saint John Sea Dogs Nick Blagden and Leighton Carruthers were in the UNB lineup on Thursday. Peter Reynolds, meanwhile, has not played since January due to an injury.

Former Sea Dog Jeremie Jacob dressed for the Aigles Bleus. Justin Gendron did not play for a second straight game.

By UNB standards, this was an odd season. The team struggled at times during the regular season and were six points back of first with a month to go – yet they still pulled it off, finishing in top spot. In the playoffs, they trailed the AUS final 1-0 but still pulled off the series win. In short, a season that didn't feel like a UNB season ends... just like a UNB season.

The season isn't over for UNB or UdeM. They've both qualified for the University Cup tournament, which begins next Thursday at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre. The tournament is being hosted by Saint Mary's University.